معیشت مردم در دوره رضاشاه 

The overall standard of living of Iran's peasantry was not very satisfac-tory, to say the least. Many observers held it to have deteriorated by the end of Reza Shah's reign. Even if the standard of living remained stationary, this meant great hardship. Diet in a typical peasant household might be "breakfast: bread and tea; lunch: bread and mawst (yoghurt); dinner: bread, mawst, and tea." As Keddie concludes, "peasants were usually hungry. " A 1950s survey by the United Nations found daily caloric intake in Iran at under 1800 calories per adult, "the lowest in the entire impoverished Middle East. Health conditions were equally abysmal: In the late 1940s one study found "Infant mortality is estimated at 50 percent; rural life expectancy is about 27 years; diseases affect the majority of the people, and most villages are without any kind of health facilities. Obviously, to become sick was a serious affair. Schools were rarely found in villages in this period, nor could children be easily spared from agricultural and household labor. In general landlords made little or no improvements in the educational, housing, or health situation of peasants.

Jan Foran