Iranians say wages vanish under rent, food and medical costs
Iranians in several cities described wages being consumed by rent, food and healthcare costs, according to messages received by Iran International on Wednesday.
Iranians in several cities described wages being consumed by rent, food and healthcare costs, according to messages received by Iran International on Wednesday.
A government employee in Dorud, in western Lorestan province, said a monthly salary of 20 million tomans, about $115 at the current rate, no longer covered basic needs.
“Half of this wage goes to rent, and the other half goes to medicine and doctors,” the message said. “Nothing is left for food and clothing.”
Another message said a salary below 50 million tomans, about $287, could no longer support a family of four, while one person said only three million tomans, about $17, remained from their monthly pay by the end of the month.
“With this situation, we have to fill ourselves with bread and water,” the message said.
Healthcare costs were also cited as a growing burden. A 51-year-old resident of Isfahan said an orthopedic visit cost one million tomans, about $6, and two prescribed scans would have cost four million tomans, about $23, each.
“I did not have the money, so I gave up,” the resident said.
Another message said medicine had become scarce and sharply more expensive, while insurance covered almost none of the costs of visits, treatment or tests. A monthly prescription that previously cost 200,000 tomans, about $1, had risen to 1.35 million tomans, about $8, the message said.
A separate message from Isfahan said most autism centers in the city had raised fees by 80%, leaving them far less crowded.
Others pointed to daily goods becoming unaffordable, citing a simple ice cream at 80,000 tomans, about 46 cents, and a 1.5-liter bottle of water at 35,000 tomans, about 20 cents.
“This is no longer inflation,” one message from Shahreza said. “It is swelling and bruising.”
