DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The Syrian war has not allowed Syrians to continue their life the way they used to. Things gradually started to grow worse, making Syrians struggle to survive with the bare minimum. While marriage among young people used to be common, abstaining from marriage was one of the repercussions of the war and the legacies of the Syrian crisis.
Recently, many young people in Damascus have postponed the idea of marriage, especially as owning a house has become a dream and even university students must have a job to secure their daily charges, as hope for living in a better future dims.
Yamen Darwish, a law student who works in a dental laboratory, says that he works in a field that is not related to his study in order to afford for his personal expenses and university charges because of the difficult living conditions, and to reduce his family burdens a little.
He added, "I bought a bicycle to reduce high transportation costs and facilitate my travel in the crowded streets."
He ruled out the idea of marriage currently, because he needs to buy a house, or at least rent one. He pointed out that all his friends are not able to marry due to the present situation.
The situation gets harder eventually under the high prices of materials, let alone the imposition of Caesar Act sanctions that added fuel to fire.
"Prior to the Syrian crisis, fathers were able to help their sons to buy a house or give them a piece of land, but today living conditions are very difficult; the price of electrical appliances exceeds a million Syrian pounds, and even the rent of a house exceeds 100,000 per month, even if it was two rooms unfit for habitation. "
Youssef Dawoud, a forty-year-old bachelor who lives in Damascus, believes that the past years have set him back, since he could not carry out his dream of buying a two-room house in Damascus or its countryside. According to him, this has now become impossible due to high prices and unemployment.
"Even public housing has become a dream. There is no business to cover the high expenses," he said with a sigh.
The owner of a real estate office in Damascus who asked not to be named, said that "there are more than 300,000 empty apartments in Damascus, some of which are still under construction; most of the people went to the safe areas during the crisis, which increased the prices. There are real estate properties sold for double price.”
In June, Syria was ranked second on the list of countries with the highest unemployment rate by up to 50% after Burkina Faso, according to specialized sites that show statistics on the world's population.