Iran’s family practices are assumed to be many years behind those of the United States. In some instances, this is not the case. The purpose of this paper is to present my findings of Irans’ advanced maternity leave and childcare policies along with their Family Planning policy success. Furthermore, I will recommend that the Iranian government look into funding women’s maternity leave and childcare, at least partially, to lower employer burden and to continue funding their Family Planning program.
Family Leave and Childcare Policies
In recent years, Iran has pulled back on their strict population control policies and efforts as the population has decreased quicker than projected. Many of the older laws that prioritized education …show more content…
It has been reported that “after nine months paid maternity leave, Iranian working mothers are given the option to reduce their work by one hour per day in effort to promote breastfeeding for children up to two years old.” . Furthermore, this policy increases the percent of children that are breast fed overall, which is better for the health of the baby. Nine months of paid maternity leave and newly enforced two weeks of paternity leave is a great feat for Iran putting it a head of the United States. This amount of time is necessary for mothers to bond with their new child and ensure that they are healed from delivery. This also gives the mother time to comfortable leaving their child once they begin working …show more content…
However, to make them effective and enforceable they must look to other countries, such as Norway, to adjust their method of funding. Norway leads in their social programs and have found that higher taxes enable the government to provide more for their people in the long run. Norway is also able to take funds from levying oil companies, creating a large oil fund for the state to use. If the Iranian government was able to improve their economy and eventually raise taxes, corporations would no longer be forced to be pay for women’s maternity leave and daycare. In turn, women would no longer be discriminated against for the possibility of getting pregnant and fired for taking maternity leave that is lawfully theirs. Furthermore, corporations would no longer be in charge of policy enforcement, and maternity leave could be granted more widely. With an economic boost from sanction removal, Iran could capitalize on their resources as Norway has done and be in a better position to fund their progressive maternity leave