Women’s labor and employment in Turkey:  

Problem areas and policy suggestions

WOMEN’S LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVE PLATFORM

17^th April, 2009
 

The economic crisis, which started this year initially affecting the developed countries and then the developing countries, has turned into a global depression.  Major and vital threats like the rapid collapse in production and the severe rise in unemployment rates show that the crisis is getting deeper by the day. Nobody can forecast how long the economic crisis will last and when it will end.

While it is expected that the crisis will create millions of unemployed people and will aggravate poverty, women will be immensely affected by this situation. Not only because of the crisis but also because of the sexist structure of the economy, we think it is essential to develop a special approach towards women. One of the preconditions of profit in the current economic system is to reinforce and maintain sexist inequalities and male dominant structures. Women are subjected to inequality and oppression both at their homes and workplaces.

For these reasons, Women’s Labor and Employment Initiative Platform has prepared this report at this time of crisis in order to question the place of women in economic life, indicate the problems and propose solutions.  
 
Report is prepared by the KEIG Platform member 27 women’s organizations that work on women’s labor and employment. KEIG Platform produces various policies in its area of work and advocates for these policies both at the local and national levels together with its member organizations.
 
This policy report entitled "Women’s Labor and Employment in Turkey; Problem Areas and Policy Suggestions”, examines women’s employment in Turkey and reaches the following conclusions:

 
We are in a process wherein neither the extent of damage incurred by the crisis nor its time span can be estimated. This crisis is resulting in detrimental levels of increase in unemployment and poverty at a global scale. As we all know, women’s employment in Turkey remains under 25%.  

Funds allocated from the state budget to public services is further limited during times of crisis, which results in intensified volumes of care services to be laid upon the shoulders of women. On the other hand, as the family incomes get lower, women undertake the services available in the market as they are no longer affordable. As a result; while spending more labor for housework and care services, women become bound to accept any job that may provide an income just to compensate for the decrease or lack of men’s earnings.

In this report, as the KEIG Platform we availed the experience and knowledge of women’s movements in Turkey and abroad, and determined the main problems in the economic sphere in order to eliminate all kinds of structures, relations, laws and implementations that engender discrimination against and domination over women.

MAIN PROBLEM AREAS

Burden on women’s shoulders is increasing in rural areas
Agriculture is one of the sectors with the highest rate of women’s employment. According to the November 2008 data, 45 percent of employed women work in the agriculture sector. The decrease in agricultural income has led men to gradually leave this sector, resulting in the feminization of agriculture. In the rural areas, on top of the care services they provide for their families, women also carry on production activities at home and also participate in agricultural production outside the home.
 
Women’s employment rate is much lower in the cities
Governments ignore the fact that the problem of low levels of employment we face today is in fact a problem of low employment levels of women or the exclusion of women from the labor market. In the cities, with regard to women over 15 years old, only 1 out of every 5 women is employed. Women, employed mostly in labor intensive sectors like textile, work in small workshops under dire working conditions, with low pay and without social security.
 
Unregistered employment rate is very high
According to the December 2008 data, 58 percent of employed women work in unregistered sectors. For men this rate is 38 percent. Due to the consecutive economic crisis of the past few years, this number is expected to be much higher than indicated in the official statistics.

 
There is a huge gap between salaries
Most of the women who manage to enter the labor market are employed in low paying jobs that do not have possibilities of promotion. In the cities of Turkey, there is a gap of 22 percent between average salaries of women and men.
 
Women are excluded from the social security system
Women make up the primary group that is excluded from social security. So-called “housewives” and women working without social security are dependent on their husbands and fathers in terms of social security. The current system, where the premium payments required for voluntary insurance is extremely high, makes it almost impossible for women to benefit from these services.

Male dominant structures of unions exclude women
The rate of unionization in Turkey is around 9 percent. Number of workers with union membership is 892 thousands. Women workers make up only 10 percent of union members and do not have seats on union boards.

POLICY SUGGESTIONS

 
As the Women’s Labor and Employment Initiative Platform we tried to determine the problems and obstacles facing women in processes of employment. We invite State Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Labor and Social Security Faruk Çelik, State Minister in Charge of Family and Women’s Status Nimet Çubukçu, and all civil society organizations to take action in order to make women’s labor visible and to increase women’s participation in the labor market. Here is the list of our policy suggestions: