WUNRN
TURKEY – LOW FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN WORKFORCE – ISSUES
OF EDUCATION, INFORMAL WORK, LOW WAGES, ROLES - STATISTICS
A
worker checks the chocolates on a production line at Konya Seker Sugar Factory
in Cumra, a small town south of the central Anatolian city of Konya, Jan. 27,
2012. (photo by REUTERS/Umit Bektas)
By Riada Ašimović Akyol – May 25, 2015
When it comes to the participation of women in Turkey's workforce, the picture
is not very encouraging. According to a March 2015 report from the Turkish
Statistical Institute, women make up only 30% of Turkey’s labor force.
Additionally, in a country where informal work among women is prevalent,
many other factors contribute to the gloomy statistics, including gendered
division of labor, lack of education
and a social security system that does not function in women’s favor……..
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-women-still-cant-break-the-glass-ceiling------.aspx?pageID=238&nID=79261&NewsCatID=341
TURKEY – LOW WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT, ILLITERACY & LOWER
EDUCATION – SOCIAL PERCEPTIONS OF WOMEN & WORK
ANKARA – Anadolu Agency - Women
make up only 30 percent of Turkey’s labor force, according to a new report from
the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) released on March 5.
The employment rate for women in Turkey is 27.1 percent, while it is 65.2
percent for men, according to TÜİK. Compared to European countries, this
rate is well below that of Sweden at 72.5 percent and even lower than that of Greece at 39.9 percent.
Meanwhile, there are also very few women in top management, only 12.2 percent
according to the most recent statistics from the Geneva-based International
Labor Office (ILO). Turkey is ranked 45 out of 48 countries in ILO research for
the percentage of women in high-level corporate positions - below Thailand and
above Ukraine.
“The perception of women must change. Woman should be seen first as individuals
rather than as ‘ideal mothers’ or ‘wives.’ Our country must change its
mentality, starting with gender equality training,” Confederation of Turkish
Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ) head Ergun Atalay told Anadolu Agency.
In Turkey, the proportion of female senior managers is 9.4 percent in the
public sector. The proportion of female judges is 36.9 percent, while the
proportion of females in academic staff was 28.7 percent in the 2013-2014
academic year. The proportion of female police officers has shown little
difference over the years, and stood at 5.5 percent in 2014, according to TÜİK.
Education a great challenge
Lack of education is one of the biggest challenges to women’s workforce
participation rising, experts say.
“The main reason for the low number of women working is the low level of
women’s education,” said Müjdat Keçeci, the president of the Chamber of
Industry in Denizli, a booming industrial city in southwestern Turkey where the
female labor force participation rate is one of the highest in the country.
“The higher the level of education, the more likely women are to work,” Keçeci
added.
The illiterate female population is five times larger than the illiterate male
population, according to TÜİK.
While the proportion of high school and equivalent graduates in the 25-and-over
cohort is 18.2 percent, this proportion is 22.2 percent for males and 14.4
percent for females. The proportion of total higher education graduates is 12.9
percent for the entire population - 15.1 percent for men and 10.7 percent for
women.
Low wages, rigid structures
Güven Sak, the director of the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey
(TEPAV) and a Hürriyet Daily
News columnist, said the generally low level of women’s wages also
kept them out of the workplace.
“If the wage rate is low, women have less incentive to leave domestic chores to
outside help. Hiring help for household chores and childcare is almost
impossible at lower wages. Add that to Turkey’s haphazard social support system
and all women are left with is taking care of the household,” Sak said.
This issue is particularly aggravated in the countryside, according to Keçeci.
Another difficulty that many women must overcome is the rigidity of working
hours.
TÜRK-İŞ head Atalay suggested that allowing women to work with flexible working
hours would solve this problem.
“With flexible working hours, women can work to contribute to the family budget
as well as do their child care and household chores. Society must work towards
changing negative perceptions about women,” he said.
Some perceptions in Turkey about the role of women do seem to be changing.
According to the results of Demographic and Health Survey 2013, 75.2 percent of
women agreed with the statement that “men should also do housework such as
cooking, washing, ironing, and cleaning,” while 75 percent of women agreed with
the statement that “women should be more involved in politics.”