Abstract
This paper is an endeavour to explore and explain the Europeanisation patterns of gender equality in a longstanding candidate country, Turkey, with regard to the specific policy areas of work and family life reconciliation over the last two decades. To achieve this goal, this paper has utilised a combination of literature review, document analysis and 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews with European Union (EU) officials, representatives of social partners and international women’s organisations, as well as Turkish political elites and representatives of civil society organisations. The collected data have been analysed through the thematic analysis research method. Relying on an extensive review of the related literature and policy documents together with the data collected, this paper contends that the process of Europeanising Turkish work and family life reconciliation policies has remained contradictory, incomplete and patchy. Although the Turkish government has made various legislative changes in response to the adaptational pressure coming from the EU, a closer examination of those legislative amendments indicates a continued disconnect between Turkey and the EU in the specific policy area of work and family life reconciliation.
Highlights
The last quarter of the twentieth century saw an increase in the number of women entering higher education, a growing desire among women for self-development and a structural transformation of the labour market from industrialisation to deindustrialisation, which created relatively more flexible working conditions, an increased gap between living costs and income, and an increased economic necessity for families to have two incomes
The traditional male breadwinner family model consists of a heterosexual married couple with children living under the same roof, where the husband is associated with an intense period of education, followed by uninterrupted full-time employment until retirement, while the wife dedicates her life to family altruism, acting as a ‘domestic servant’ (Esping-Andersen 2009, p. 27), This model has gradually lost some of its social prevalence, with other family models, such as the adult earner family model, or one-and-a-half-earner family model, gaining more prominence (Esping-Andersen 2009; Hantrais 2004; Lewis 1992)
By combining conditionality with defamilialisation, this paper aims to provide an opportunity to push the boundaries of existing theories in the field of Europeanisation studies, moving the scope of the discussion beyond the European Union (EU) influence at the policy level
Summary
The last quarter of the twentieth century saw an increase in the number of women entering higher education, a growing desire among women for self-development and a structural transformation of the labour market from industrialisation to deindustrialisation, which created relatively more flexible working conditions, an increased gap between living costs and income, and an increased economic necessity for families to have two incomes All of these changes combined to alter the life paths of family members in general, but those of women in particular, and, concomitantly, the prevalent family model (Esping-Andersen 2009; Hemerijck 2013; Lewis 2009). But the second and third, have openly highlighted the incompatibilities between the Turkish Labour Code and EU legislation with respect to work and family life reconciliation This has compelled Turkey to construct a new Labour Code (Aldikacti-Marshall 2013), that needs to include complementary directives related to parental leave, childcare facilities and working time arrangements (European Commission 2003). The collected data has been analysed via the thematic analysis research method
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call