Structural Analysis of Women’s Labor Force and Unemployment in Turkey

Abstract

Increasing the share of women, who make up half of the total population in Turkey, in total employment will positively affect economic growth and development. Although female employment in Turkey is generally low, policy recommendations and action plans are prepared by the relevant ministries to increase women's employment. Throughout the world, women face some difficulties in business life and the importance of policies to be developed in order to increase women's employment as well as to ensure its continuity is among the issues on the agenda. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of gender equality and the regulations to be made for women's participation in business life is underlined once again. The main purpose of this study is to analyze structurally the female workforce and female unemployment in Turkey. For this purpose, women's employment, the effects of women's employment on the economy and the problems women experience in participating in business life are explained. The structure of the female workforce and unemployment in Turkey has been examined throughout the country and regionally. In the study, the labor force participation rate of women, the distribution of women's employment according to economic activities and the female unemployment rate are based on. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's employment were explained and a policy proposal framework was tried to be determined. Accordingly, regulations to be made on issues such as wages, leave arrangements, prevention of dismissals and policies to be implemented in this context come to the fore as important factors for increasing women's participation in the workforce. When the labor force participation rate and unemployment rate of women are evaluated regionally, it is seen that there are differences between regions. This situation makes it necessary to consider the labor market dynamics of the regions in the policies to be developed.