Housework remains the dominant activity among over 60% of married women in Iran, yet its recognition as formal employment remains highly contested in both legal and policy frameworks. This study explores the following research question: What is the legal and policy status of housework in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and can housewives be considered employed? The central hypothesis posits that housework, as a fundamental contributor to household management and social reproduction, constitutes a productive activity and thus should be formally recognized and supported. Drawing on Islamic jurisprudence and feminist theories, the study argues that while Islamic legal thought acknowledges the economic value of domestic labor—entitling women to compensation such as Ojrat al-Mithl—post-revolutionary policymaking has failed to provide institutional support for housewives. Using qualitative content analysis of laws, religious texts, national development plans, and scholarly literature, the findings reveal a significant disconnect between theoretical endorsement and practical implementation. The study concludes that redefining housework as legitimate employment is a critical step toward gender justice and recommends integrating legal protections, social insurance schemes, and policy mechanisms to formally support housewives.
Introduction
Housework, though historically marginalized in labor discourses, plays a vital role in economic reproduction and social cohesion. Feminist theorists have long emphasized how unpaid domestic labor contributes to systemic gender inequality by devaluing women's contributions within the household. In Iran, despite a cultural and religious emphasis on the family, housework continues to be socially feminized and legally ambiguous. The present study investigates the legal status of housework and whether women engaged in it can be recognized as workers deserving institutional support. It further seeks to bridge feminist critiques with Islamic jurisprudence, arguing that the two paradigms may offer complementary insights into revalorizing domestic labor.
Materials & Methods
This research adopts a qualitative approach rooted in documentary and content analysis. Primary sources include the Iranian Civil Code, national development plans from 1989 to 2028, religious jurisprudential texts such as Al-Qawa'id al-Fiqhiyyah, and official reports by policy think tanks and parliamentary research centers. Secondary sources include feminist theory texts and empirical studies on gender roles in Iran. Data were analyzed using thematic coding techniques, focusing on key concepts such as unpaid labor, economic value of caregiving, policy gaps, and jurisprudential compensation mechanisms (e.g., Ojrat al-Mithl, Nafaqah). The analysis also incorporates cross-referencing between feminist arguments from theorists like Delphy, Dussuet, Kergoat, and Fraser, and Islamic legal provisions that define women’s entitlements for domestic services, especially in cases of marital dissolution. This dual framework enables a multifaceted reading of both symbolic and material dimensions of housework in the Iranian context
Discussion & Result
The study confirms that housework is not officially recognized as employment in Iran’s current legal and policy structure, despite its centrality in social reproduction. Feminist theorists like Christine Delphy and Anne Dussuet describe domestic labor as doubly exploitative, being both unpaid and gendered, while Monique Haicault emphasizes the invisibility of domestic labor in linear, measurable terms. These insights are mirrored in Islamic legal thought, which grants women financial entitlements for their work inside the home, particularly in the form of Ojrat al-Mithl and Nafaqah. The analysis reveals a fundamental contradiction: while religious and legal frameworks allow for economic recognition of housework, public policy remains either silent or hesitant in institutionalizing this recognition. For example, national development plans often emphasize the family as a strategic axis of social stability, yet fail to define housewifery as a productive occupation deserving insurance, retirement, or social protection schemes. Moreover, the cultural normativity of emotional labor and self-sacrifice within Iranian families renders many women reluctant to claim compensation for caregiving and domestic work, further reinforcing their legal and economic invisibility. In effect, housewives are socially glorified but structurally unsupported.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that housework in Iran occupies a paradoxical position: it is morally exalted in discourse but marginalized in law and policy. Despite the Islamic legal system providing conceptual space for financial recognition of housework, there is a persistent institutional reluctance to translate this recognition into practice. Bridging feminist theory and Islamic jurisprudence allows for a redefinition of housework not merely as a familial duty but as a form of employment that warrants social protection. The study recommends a comprehensive policy shift: (1) legally defining housework as a category of informal yet productive labor; (2) creating insurance and pension schemes for full-time housewives; (3) revising national development plans to incorporate the economic value of domestic labor in GDP calculations; and (4) fostering public awareness to challenge the cultural stigma against compensating women for household work. By reimagining housework through a dual lens of gender justice and Islamic ethics, this research contributes to both academic discourse and actionable policy reforms aimed at enhancing the social and economic status of women engaged in domestic labor.