Rewritten Title: Navigating Subsidy Reforms: The Precarious Position of Temporary Workers
Article:
Government Forges Ahead with Targeted Subsidy Plan
The core policy of the current administration regarding subsidies is firmly centered on the removal of direct cash payments from the top three income deciles. Since the start of the current Iranian year, approximately 9 million individuals from the eighth and ninth deciles have been removed from the list of subsidy recipients, a policy set to continue in the coming month.
Ahmad Meydari, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare, elaborated on the criteria in a public parliamentary session. He stated that the benchmark for removal is a per capita income of 10 million tomans. According to his explanation, a three-member family that owns its home would fall into the eighth decile with an income of 30 million tomans, while a tenant family would reach that threshold with an income of approximately 42 million tomans.
Expert Warns of Flawed Criteria for Vulnerable Workforce
However, this approach has drawn criticism from welfare experts who highlight its potential impact on a significant segment of the workforce. Alireza Heidari, an expert in welfare and social security, pointed to a critical flaw in the criteria. He stated that 95% of workers covered by the labor law are on temporary contracts, with a large portion working on a contractual basis, leading to highly unstable incomes.
“In the case of a worker employed on a contract in the oil industry earning 40 or 50 million tomans a month, their income can still drop to zero if their contract is not renewed,” Heidari argued. “Therefore, such income figures cannot be a reliable criterion for decile classification and the removal of cash subsidies.”
Calls for a More Sophisticated and Dynamic System
Heidari contends that the classification system cannot rely solely on income levels. He emphasized that the priority should be to employ advanced tools like artificial intelligence and create a comprehensive, up-to-date database to assess the economic status of households more accurately.
“Consumption patterns and household expenditure baskets must be considered in the process of removing subsidies,” he added, “otherwise, the decisions may not be justice-oriented.”
Learning from International Models
Drawing a comparison with the system in Norway, Heidari illustrated an alternative approach. “In Norway, the government adjusts childcare costs based on a household’s current income, and if a worker becomes unemployed, immediate support is provided, reducing the childcare fee to zero.”
He reiterated that the unstable income of contract workers cannot be a precise basis for classification. “A 30-million-toman income for a worker’s family should not be viewed as stable, as this amount can rapidly decrease or be cut off entirely. In the current economic climate, the decile classification system needs to operate with greater flexibility and be updated based on new information.”