The impacts of COVID-19 on the women heading their households in Iran

ABSTRACT

Iran was one of the first countries to be impacted by COVID-19, facing many challenges during this period. The pandemic has had significant effects on many aspects of women’s lives, particularly those who head their households, and this article examines the shift in some of these lives through interview data. The paper is anchored in the feminization of poverty theory. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 28 women who were heads of their households in Tehran, themes were extracted through thematic analysis. The research results indicate that job insecurity, problems with housing, sexual harassment, lack of a sense of happiness, and mental anxieties are the most substantial impacts of COVID-19 on these Iranian women.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• head of household
• women
• Iran
• thematic analysis

Acknowledgments

The materials used in the research can be publicly posted. The data used in the research is not publicly shared in order to respect participant privacy and to maintain their anonymity.

Ethics approval was waived by the ethics committee of the host institution.

The authors would like to thank Dr. Blu Tirohl,the editor-in-chief of the journal, for helpful suggestions and the anonymous reviewers for the comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The sanctions included: Blocking approximately $8 billion of Iranian assets in the U.S. (1979–1981). Banning weapon-selling to Iran (1984-now). Prohibiting trade with Iran (1995-now). Restrictions for investment in Iran (1996-now). Severing previous sanctions and adding more in order to ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran (2018-now) (Katzman, 2021).

2. 1 dollar is equated at the time of writing to 250,000 Rials.

3. March 2020 – March 2021.

4. March 2021 – March 2022.

5. 1200 dollars.

6. 8 dollars.

7. 10 dollars.

8. 40 dollars.

9. Temporary marriage in Islam, which is not socially acceptable in Iran, is a verbal or written contract between a man and a woman for a specified period from hours to years and includes that granted by a man to woman in exchange for her sexual services. It is distinguished from other non-Islamic sexual relationships.

10. An application similar to Uber in Iran.

11. The living expenses of housewife women was provided by their families, relatives, neighbours, or non-government organizations.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article..

Notes on contributors

Fatemeh Sefidgarbaei

Fatemeh Sefidgarbaei holds a Masters in Social Science Researching from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran. Her co-authored paper entitled ‘Risk Society and COVID-19’ has been published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health (https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00473-z). She is currently researching cohabitation among young adults in Iran. Her research interests are public health and family planning.

Fardin Mansouri holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Policy-Making from Kharazmi University in Tehran, Iran. His co-authored paper entitled ‘Risk Society and COVID-19’ has been published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health (https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00473-z). He is working on the online experiences of high school boys during COVID-19 in Iran. His research interests are population health and family studies.