The first international lecture of the pre-con events of the international conference on Imam Reza and Interreligious Dialogue was held online on December 13, 2023. At this session, Dr. Sahar Mustafa (Studies Officer at Aman Center for Family Guidance) delivered her speech under the title “The Impact of Economic Challenges on Family Values”. 

Today, families suffer from economic challenges and the pressures resulting from them, such as declining purchasing power, unemployment, and others. These problems affect marriage rates, the inclination towards marriage, and the ability to establish families. Nevertheless, the level of influence varies in different countries due to differences in social and cultural contexts. Consumerism– emphasized and promoted by liberalism and neoliberalism – is one of the most significant reasons for the emergence of these challenges and has a direct impact on families in both the formation and sustainability stages. Consumerism comprises values, beliefs, and habits that encourage the purchase of goods and services as a means of expressing identity and achieving satisfaction and happiness. Various values exist within consumerism, such as present enjoyment and immediate pleasure, superficiality and objectification versus emphasis on intrinsic values, irrationality in the realm of influence, focus on pleasure, continuous replacement versus repair and reuse, and insatiable greed. All these values affect family interactions, alter perceptions of roles, values, and family priorities, and finally result in increased economic pressure on families and various other problems. Some suggestions can be proposed to address the challenges arising from consumerism, including: freeing the concept of pleasure from material constraints, elevating values and meanings above material objects and affairs, practicing moderation, contentment, and patience in the face of consumption, promoting values of moderation and balance, and fostering a culture of gratitude.