Designing a Family-Centered Welfare System Model in Iran: Integrating Social Balance, State Solidarity, and Takaful

Abstract

Iran’s welfare system, despite its extensive institutional structure, has proven inefficient in utilizing the capacity of the family as an independent social institution due to its predominantly individual-centered and economy-centered approaches. This study was conducted with the aim of designing an innovative family-centered model to address the existing gap in welfare modeling and in pursuit of implementing the “General Policies on the Family” (2016). This research is applied in nature and qualitative in methodology, employing documentary analysis and meta-synthesis techniques. Data were collected from upstream policy documents and from the theoretical foundations articulated by Martyr Sadr concerning social justice. These data were extracted and conceptualized within three principal pillars: “social balance,” “state solidarity,” and “takaful,” and subsequently modeled within the framework of Charles Jones’ policy cycle. The findings indicate a structural disconnect between “legal ideals” and “individual-centered implementation” in the current welfare model. The proposed model, through the integration of the three pillars, redefines the role of the state (solidarity) from that of a distributive agent to a regulatory authority and ultimate guarantor, while simultaneously activating the capacity of civil society institutions (takaful) and the internal functional role of the family (balance). Institutionalization of this model through policy integration within the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare would resolve the challenges of structural inefficiency and policy parallelism. By shifting welfare support from the individual level to the family level, the model establishes the foundation for the realization of sustainable social justice.