Women’s Employment in Iran

Until the mid-twentieth century, the urban economy was limited in scope, and much of Iran’s economy was concentrated in agricultural production. As a result, where the issue of women in the informal economy is concerned, much of the focus was on the rural economy. In Iran, much like the rest of the world, women have been, and continue to be, part of the agricultural and pastoral economy as well as its cottage industry. With respect to rural production, as Lois Beck and Nikki R. Keddi documented, women long have been involved in the production of the famous Persian carpets (1978, p. 358), and Fred Halliday demonstrated that women were responsible for 70 percent of cloth weaving (1979, p. 191). What is important to remember here is that, in pre-industrial Iran, as was typically the case elsewhere, there was little or no separation between the workplace and the home, and since there was not much of a formal economy, there was no real formal employment either.