A Study on the Social Aspect of Mehr Cooperative Housing Project: A Case Study of Karaj Township

Proper accommodation is one of the most fundamental needs of the modern man. The Iranian Constitutional Law commits the Government to provide affordable accommodation through cooperative entities under Mehr Housing Project for the people coming from lower deciles. As a result, the entire bodies of the Government have been marshaled to accomplish the abovementioned goal. Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Affairs, thereof, undertakes a number of duties in this regard, the most important of them being the identification of the low-income groups and provision of grounds for their accommodation through various means such as facilities. The current paper which is about Mehr Housing Project in 1388-89 (2009-2010) in Karaj Township focuses on its positive and negative social aspects which have been neglected. Thus it is a contribution to a relatively more comprehensive understanding in this regard. The research involves documentary, note-taking, field survey, and questionnaire and interview techniques. The statistical population consists of the entire Mehr Accommodation Cooperatives in Karaj Township, out of which 48 with 10986 members were sampled through quota sampling. The results suggest that 90 percent of the household heads who have applied for Mehr accommodation are men. The female household heads which constitute 10 percent, according to their education, income and employment, were found to be coming from low socio-economic status. Holding a larger average household size than the urban standard, 40 percent of these female household heads are still deprived of any accommodation despite 25 years into their family life. Moreover, some 7 percent of them are immigrants from rural areas in search of occupation and are struggling with family problems. These facts have provided every reason for the current paper to shed light upon Mehr Housing Project from a social standpoint, which seems to have been ignored in the literature.