ORPHANHOOD AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF SYRIAN CHILDREN IN TÜRKİYE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRE- AND POST-CONFLICT PERIODS (2006-2018)

Abstract

This article examines how armed conflicts influence orphanhood and living arrangements of children and specifically compares Syrian orphan children’s living arrangements in the pre-conflict period in Syria and the post-conflict period in Türkiye by using the data of the 2006 Syrian Arab Republic Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (SMICS) and 2018 Türkiye Demographic and Health Survey Syrian Migrant Sample (TDHS-S). The study aims to understand the prevalence and magnitude of orphanhood among Syrian refugee children, to investigate the social consequences of orphanhood and to reveal how various living arrangements of orphaned Syrian children differ in pre- and post-conflict periods. The research employs a comparative analysis based on the descriptive statistics of two datasets. The results of the study indicate that orphanhood among Syrian children has increased in the post-conflict period for all age groups and both sexes. A key finding shows that paternal orphanhood is more prevalent in the post-conflict period among all orphanhood types with a 4.8%. The incidence of not living with a biological parent is highest for the 15-17 age group in Türkiye reaching 17%. The increase in percentages of working children, the general decline in school attendance ratios and high percentages in early marriages are other prominent findings observed in the post-conflict period.