Study of the Impacts of Unemployment on the Delayed Marriage of Young People in Tehran

Unemployment significantly affects demographic processes such as marriage, divorce, fertility, and migration. The purpose of this paper is to examine the unemployment experience and its impacts on the delay in marriage of young men in Tehran using a combination research method (quantitative and qualitative data). In this regard, the article first uses a secondary analysis of 2011 micro-census data in Tehran to test the effect of employment status and unemployment on marriage delays, then, applying a qualitative research method and in-depth interview with 27 young single unemployed, studying the experience of youth unemployment And its consequences in the area of marriage delays. The quantitative results showed that the probability of being single among unemployed people is about eight times higher than those employed. By controlling other independent variables, unemployment also has a strong impact on probability of being single. The qualitative findings reveal five main categories of job identity, luxury/ materialism, abandonment, job insecurity, and rationality in deciding whether to delay marriage. As the result of the research it can be understand that unemployment and job insecurity leads to high uncertainty about the future, so that the young men decide to delay marriage until an unknown future.