Everyone's own poverty: Gendering poverty alleviation policies in Turkey

Abstract

The last general election campaign in 2011 was the first in Turkish history to focus on transferring cash to women. This is a strong indication of the feminized face of poverty in Turkey, but also a sign that women are seen as instrumental agents in poverty alleviation. Although until now there has been no systematic policy directed solely to women fighting against poverty, there are patchy micro-credit approaches that target women and households. This article examines gendered aspect of poverty and poverty alleviation policies in Turkey. It argues that the changing nature of poverty has forced the re-alignment of policies to take women into consideration as the main agents of poverty alleviation. Based on the findings of a field survey conducted in the cities of Mugla and Mardin, the study also sheds light on the nature of women's self-expressed needs for poverty alleviation, and shows that addressing female poverty is a multi-faced and multi-dimensional task that should include both holistic and particularistic approaches to poverty alleviation. In the study, 204 women from Mugla (western part of Turkey) and 204 women from Mardin (eastern part of Turkey), where different ethnicities live, were asked what government action was needed to increase their household welfare. The results show that the government action needed to increase household welfare changes according to the geographical location of women and ethnic differences, and this is not necessarily in accordance with the past and current poverty alleviation policies.