According to the official data, less than 10 percent of the urban female population of ten years and older has been active in the labor force during the post-revolutionary period (Markaz-i Āmār 2003, 88). Many researchers, however, believe that the data underestimate female participation and suggest the existence of a large informal market (Kār 1994, Mahīmīnī and Ṣāliḥī 1999, Moghadam 2001, Muḥsinī 1999, Raʿnānī 2001, Shaditalab 2002, 2003). The paucity of research on the subject does not allow …