Daily struggles and aspirations: exploring the leisure capabilities of working children and adolescents in Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT Working children and adolescents face diverse problems, including long working hours, low pay, lack of quality education/training, unrealistic expectations, workplace hierarchies, and bullying, all of which cause them to be bereaved of leisure opportunities. However, there is a lack of study on this topic. The dominant perception of child labour being mainly an issue of the Global South, a geographically and socially under-represented context, is a significant reason behind the lack of thorough exploration of the leisure capabilities of working children and adolescents. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in Turkey, this paper explores the everyday realities of working children and adolescents in terms of their leisure preferences and capabilities. The study is based on in-depth interviews and focus groups with working children and adolescents aged between 11 and 17. Using the Capabilities Approach as an analytical lens, the paper discusses the ways in which work shrinks the already limited leisure capabilities of the participants. In the face of fatigue and time scarcity, children adapt their leisure preferences to the available leisure cultures. Simultaneously, however, they display agency in various ways so as to gain time and protect their leisure rights.