Female Labor Force in Turkey - Research Paper Example

affiliation Female labor force in Turkey Introduction The world today is a ‘man’s world’ as men predominantly participate in the labor force activities all over the world. This can be dated back to the ancient times when men used to carry all the activities that involve lots of energies while women were only allocated tasks of caring for the children and preparing food for the family. They were never involved with tasks that could make them be on the same level with men. After the Second World War, women participation in the labor force activities started to rise. Immediately after the war, women made one-third of the population in the labor force (Goldin and Olivetti, P. 257). However, as time moved on, the number of women in the labor force started increasing rapidly from 1960 s through 1980s before starting to slow down in 1990s. By 1999, women made 60% of the world labor force which was considered as their peak participation in the labor market. However, since 1999, women participation in the labor force has greatly declined. This can be attributed to a number of reasons, which includes; lack of education, poverty, gender biasness in the employment sector and predominance of men in white-collar jobs such as medicine, engineering and law (Vaizey, P. 57). Nonetheless, across the world women participation in the labor force remains at a relative high level especially among women with children, and a good number of women does a full-time job all year round. The high number of women in the job market can also be attributed to the fact that women have increasingly ventured in the field of education, and a good number of them have acquired higher levels of education. Among women aged between 25-64 years of age in the labor force, the number of those who had attained a college degree tripled from the year 1970 to 2012 (Mills, P. 41). In terms of earnings, women’s earnings in relation to the men’s earning have also been growing since the Second World War 2. During 1970s, women’s earnings were 62% of the men’s earning among women who had a full-time job during that time. In 2012, women’s earning was calculated as 81% of the men’s earning for women who had a full-time job at that time. This trend indicates that women’s population continues to increase in the labor force as time goes by. In 2012, 57.7% of women were in the labor force while men labor force percentage which has always been more than that of women was quoted at 70.5% (Vatter, P. 8). Across the world, the women unemployment rate was 7.9 percent while that of men was 8.2 percent. The unemployment rate of women varied in terms of race and ethnicity with the African women making highest rate of unemployment at 12.8 percent while the Asian women made the lowest rate of unemployment at 6.1 percent. The white and the Hispanic women had an unemployment rate of 7.0 and 10.9 respectfully. The African women made the highest percentage of unemployed women as many of them have not acquired college education as compared to the Asian and white women (Alon and Haberfeld, P. 369). Across the world, by the year 2012 women made 52 percent of all the people employed in professional, management, and other related occupations in the job market. This was more than 47 percent, which was their total share of employment in the job market. Women employment share in each category of occupation varied from one occupation to another. For instance, women made 20 percent of software develop, 31% of lawyers, 61 percent of accountants and auditors. Teaching profession had the largest percentage of women, as 81 percent of women were elementary and middle school teachers. Employed white women and Asians were more likely to work in well-paying management and professional occupation as compared to their African and Hispanic counterparts. According to Beneria, (P. 85), by 2012, the number of women in the labor force was more than half of the population in the job market. In financial activities, women made 57% of the total population in the job market. In education and health sciences jobs, women made 75% of the total employed population. In leisure, hospitality, and other services, they made 51 and 52 percent respectfully. The women were greatly underrepresented in other sectors such as agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing and transportation where they made 26, 13, 9, 29 and 23 percent of the total population in the job market respectfully. In terms of earning, by the year 2012, women who had a full-time job had weekly earnings of $ 691, which was 81% of men’s weekly earnings of $854. The Asian women had the highest earning of $770 while the Hispanics had the lowest earnings of $521. The women’s to men’s earnings ratio was higher for blacks at 90 percent while that for Asians was lower at 73 percent. Though women representation in the labor market has been increasing across the world, their participation in the job market is not similar as that of men due to various drawbacks that affect them. These include poverty, which deprives them of the available opportunities and lack of education. The women are not also well represented politically and therefore parliaments across the world pass laws that are not favorable to women (Nations and Programme, P. 63). Female labor force in Turkey Though the Turkey’s economy has been growing in the past few years as indicated by the growth in its GDP and increase in women education, there still exists a gender gap in the country, as women are not well represented in the economic and political sphere. The lack of proper representation of women in the economic and political sphere has made the Turkish women not able to take the available opportunities in the country’s economic sector thus contributing to their increased poverty level (Okumus and Karamustafa, P. 942). In the economic sphere, the labor force participation of Turkey’s women was at 23.5% by the year 2009 as compared to men’s labor force participation, which was at 70 percent. By the year 2012, women participation in the turkey labor force had rose to 30% while the men labor force participation was at 76 percent. This shows that the labor force market is predominantly occupied by men (Başlevent and Onaran, P. 1375). According to Göksel (P. 45), the patterns of female labor force participation in turkey can be due to the many social and economic changes that the country has been having since 1980s. The number of educated people started increasing since the year 1980s. Due to this effect, the number of middle-income class people started to increase. The country also started to experience urbanization. This changes made families and particularly women to face new challenges and new ways of life. The urbanization and shifting away from the subsistence agriculture affected the employment patterns for women mostly for those who had not attained the college education. During early period before these changes, women used to work in the family farms but due to urbanization, women started taking lucrative job in the service and manufacturing sector. This shift of activities away from subsistence agriculture made women withdraw out of the labor force as they lacked appropriate skills needed for the job. Many women in Turkey, who have not obtained a college education, are always willing to work, but they face multiples of challenges preventing them from working. These challenges include access to jobs that offer low wages, long working hours and access to jobs that provide no social security. The women also are faced with a high cost of hiring someone to take care of the children at home while they go to work. This proof is expensive as the women salary will not be able to pay the person taking care of their kids and at the same time providing for their family (Ince, P. 634). According to Wendt, Agartan, and Kaminska (P. 88), for the past years, Turkey has experienced many structural and social changes that are meant to increase the number of women entering the labor market. The societal attitude toward employed women has changed as people are no longer having negative attitudes towards women who have full-time jobs. This may be partly due to the hard economic situation of the households, which makes it difficult to sustain economic viability with a single income from the head the family who is the husband. Women have therefore moved from carrying out household chores and attending to the family to take lucrative job opportunities in various industries in towns and cities. Women are also becoming increasingly educated. In the past two decades, illiterate women percentage in Turkey dropped from 33.9% to 19.6 %. The proportion of women who had attained more than primary education had also doubled during this period. By 2006, the percentage of women with a university degree had increased from 5.8% from 1.8 % in 1988. Although this statistics shows increased percentage of educated women in Turkey, it is nowhere near the comparison of educated men in the same country. By 2006, one out of every five women was illiterate which makes 20 percent of the illiterate women. The number of illiterate men was only 4 percent. The women with more than primary education were one-third of the total female population as compared to half the male population. This shows a disparity in attainment of education between the two genders. The high illiteracy level in turn negatively affects the women participation in the labor force as compared to their male counterparts who takes the labor opportunities due to their education. The male child is usually seen as an asset and is given an opportunity for education so as to take up the available lucrative jobs in the labor market. Low wages in the family and low returns to education from the female child makes families under-invest in girl child education as they imagine that they have little chance to participate in the labor market in the future. This will consequently lead to decrease in the participation of women in the labor market in the near future causing increased poverty. According to Arat (P. 869), the Turkish government has come up with the ‘national action plan for gender equality’ to increase the women labor force participation in the country. It appreciates the fact that Turkish women are behind the male counterparts in terms of the labor force participation. It focuses on the need to develop women socially and economically so as to increase their labor force participation. When women are developed socially and economically, they will be able to gain economic independence, which can increase their confidence and social respectability. The government aimed to increase the female labor force preparation by 29.6 percent by the year 2013. To achieve this, the government aims to come up with policies that will raise the level of education for women, enhance employability through active labor and enabling women to access the labor market. Since 1995, various projects and programs have been developed to strengthen employability of women, helping female entrepreneurs to be prosperous in the areas that they venture into, subsidies for new workers i.e., youth and female workers, vocational training and coming up with child care center among other many initiatives. All these initiatives were meant to increase the female participation in the labor force. In the agricultural sector, the Turkish women are fairly well represented, as this is the only sector that employs a large proportion of both literate and illiterate individuals. Like most developing and developed nations, women in Turkey play a very important role in agricultural activities and other household duties. Not only that they are active in the agricultural sector alone but also in the countries non-agricultural activities such as industry and services (Food and Agriculture Organization, P. 211). Women role in promoting the Turkish economy especially in the agricultural sector has been of vital importance. Although, their efforts were not recognized as the foundation of the turkey republic by the 20th century. Currently, the women in the total labor force participation is at 26%. Although, this percentage is expected to increase as women prepare to get more involved in the different sector of the Turkish economy through the gain of higher education and changing legislations that work to their advantage. Turkish women have a greater share in the labor force participation in the agricultural sector in comparison to other economic sectors. When compared to the other sectors, women agricultural labor force participation is 44%. When economic activities are further analyzed in terms of sex, women make more than 70 percent of all the total labor force in the agricultural sector. This implies that if the rural women are supported in the agricultural activities, their family status, community and nation as a whole will increase (Mehra and Rojas, P. 19). More specifically, the women in the Turkish rural village plays a vital role in the agricultural production from land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting and animal husbandry. Despite this critical contribution in the agricultural sector, the rural woman effort has not been highly appreciated for years. Only a little recognition has been paid to women as producers in this sector. Lack of recognition of their contributions in the agricultural sector can be attributed to the many challenges that women face in the sector. These challenges include women reproductive role where women attend to children at home, attend to household chores. This limit the time available for women to engage in agricultural activities. In addition, the social-cultural factors have been of a challenge to women in the agricultural sector. These factors include religious, cultural attitudes and educational status that makes women stay more at home than men. This reduces their economic effectiveness in all economic spheres (Kasaba, P. 50). Turkish women have been sidelined in the irrigation roles as compared to men. Women have been predominant in other agricultural activities such as such as planting, hoeing, and harvesting. Irrigation is considered as a sector that requires knowledge and heavy-duty work therefore it is kept for men. Therefore, women in Turkey are considered unfit to work in large-scale irrigations areas and orchards except for small irrigation fields. Currently, many Turkish women have acquired knowledge in irrigation though. Many women in Turkey are now working as irrigational engineers, specialists, and social workers in both governmental and non-governmental organizations that engage in irrigation activities. The irrigations schemes in Turkey were transferred to water users associations. This opened opportunities for Turkish women in managerial and technical position (C¸akmak, Beyrı˙bey, and Kodal, P. 113). Despite great involvement of Turkish women in the agricultural sector, they face many challenges that make them lag behind in the agricultural sector. This challenge includes lack of enough land for agricultural activities, limited extension services, lack of finance to carry out agricultural activities, limited transfer of information on agriculture between the sexes, lack of education in agriculture and lack of mobility from household activities. All this factors makes women lag behind in agricultural activities as compared to men. In terms of employment and activeness in other sectors, the economic activity for women has always been inferior in compare to that of men in the Turkish economy. In 1999, 31 percent of women were economically active which was a lower value as compared to that of men who were 74 percent (Food and Agriculture Organization, P. 191). The labor force had a sharp decline from 1955 to 1998 where labor force participation was quoted at 70 and 36 percent respectfully. Increasing urbanization and migration largely attributed this trend. Due to urbanization, the Turkish population began to migrate towards the urban areas. The migrant women to the urban areas were unskilled due to lack of education and therefore did not get an opportunity to be employed in the formal sectors of the city. This decreased the percentage of women in the labor force as these same women had left their agricultural jobs in the rural areas. This made the women be employed in the informal sector such as being employed as housewives while their male counterparts were employed in the formal sector. Though there has been decline involvement of women in the labor force participation, some sectorial changes in the economy have played a major role to boost the total percentage of active involvement of women in the Turkish economy. The agricultural sector has been the primary source of employment for the Turkish women for the past 30 years. In other sectors such as industrial and manufacturing, women have been disadvantaged as compared to men due to many constraints such as lack of education, unfavorable culture and longtime involvement in household activities (Healy, P. 247). By the year 1999, of all the working Turkish women, 72 percent worked in the agricultural sector. They shared the same percentage as the Turkish men. In the wholesale and retail sector, only 2 percent of women were working while 12 percent of men were working in this sector. In the manufacturing sector, 4 percent of women were working in this sector while 10 percent of men were working in the same sector. This shows that the majority of the Turkish women find employment in the agricultural sector as compared to the other sectors such as retail and manufacturing sector. As the Turkish women share in the labor force declined, the proportion of unpaid female workers dropped from 75 percent in 1960 to 67 percent in 2000. The percentage of wage earners rose only by a smaller increment percentage of 11 to 25 percent as by this time only a few women in Turkey had gained formal education to enable them get employed in the formal sector. Whichever sector in the turkeys economy, whether agricultural industrial or service sectors, it can generally be concluded that different trades either favors male or female gender. In agriculture, the activities that favor the female gender in Turkey include, weeding, harvesting, hoeing, animal feeding while activities that favored the male gender include those that required physical effort and technical skill. These activities include livestock fertilization, irrigation, chemical spraying, and marketing. There has been though an increase of women participation in in administrative and managerial positions from a slightly less than five percent in 1995 to a figure more than 10 percent in 1995 (Aydin and Acar, P. 1722). In the political sphere, Turkey’s women have been underrepresented in the national politics as compared to their men counterpart just like other developed and developing nations. This is associated with many drawbacks that make women not venture into the national politics. The drawbacks include lack of resources and education. This puts them in a disadvantaged position as compared to the men. Citizens participate in politics to have a share in the countries social resources. However, in today’s world there is an imbalance in political participation between women and men. Women have been underrepresented in politics and Turkey is among one of the countries in which greater disparity between the two genders in political participation exists. Though in the Ottoman era the Turkish women status was improved, women were still deprived of their political rights. Several reforms made it possible for women to hold public positions during that time. Women headed offices in charity organizations during this time while they were still underrepresented in the national politics (Yay and Keçeli, P. 301). In the year 1924, the Kemalist reforms made it possible for the Turkish women to join the civil service. In 1930, the Turkish women obtained the right to participate in municipal election. In 1934, the women got the right to participate in the national politics. Although this reforms were meant to increase the number of women participation in the national politics, it was not until 1980s that Turkish women began to identify themselves as political actors in the men dominated field rather than housewife at home in a life that rotates within her family. Although the Turkish parliament provides opportunities for women to participate in national politics, the women face many drawbacks that limit their chances of winning the parliamentary seats. These include lack of education, which make them not able to participate in elite politics. The Turkish women also lack enough capital that can help them participate in the national politics, which is a very expensive venture. The Islamic’s have a culture that views women as creatures who only have familial role while men deal with other roles such as politics. This belief was still held strongly until 1990s and this affected women participation in the national politics (Arat, P. 99). Turkish women got involved in parliamentary politics in 1934, but their number in parliament has greatly decreased since that time. This was attributed to the notion of ‘symbolic women MPs’ which was a policy that greatly reduced the number of female MPs in the parliament especially during the Ataturk era. By the year 1994, only 5 women were holding 10 ministerial posts in different cabinets in the Turkish government. Between 1971 to 1973, women held posts as ministers of state, health, and culture and by the year 1987, a woman member of parliament had been elected as the minister of state. In 1991, a female member of parliament became the state minister of economy. In the cabinet offices, by the year 1993, women members of parliament had occupied three ministerial posts as ministers. These were two ministers of state and one minister of tourism. Between 1990s to 2000, women began taking big posts in the government and the year 1993 to 1995, the position of prime minister was occupied by a woman (Nasr, P. 333). For the women to be elected to parliament, they had to have a university degree or had worked as successful professionals in their area of study. They had to have a higher qualification as compared to their male counterparts and most of the time; they had links with well-established political families. For instance, by the year 2012, 60 percent of female members of parliament had close relatives who had successfully ventured into politics as compared to the 40 percent men. According to (Mellon,) the Turkish women have participated in the local government and municipal council politics in large numbers as compared to the national politics. The percentage of women taking the municipal council seats has been increasing since 1934 to the year 2000. The reasons for increased Turkish women in local politics than in the national politics was because the municipal activities were considered ordinary and compared to family activities. The municipal activities also involved making decisions that do not affect the national politics. The political analysis shows that politics in Turkey has not been gendered. The national politics has been dominated by men while the local politics has been associated with women. By the year 1990, women started to become active in politics than before. This was attributed to modernization and getting rid of patriarchal traditional social structure. Women remain active in local than national politics. In the political parties, women do not participate in decision-making but they are only taken as vote gatherers. Currently, women are starting to discover their status outside the kitchen and venture in political and socio-economic realm. To achieve a social and economically prosperous nation, its citizens need to be educated. The educated citizens can help raise the country’s GDP through the increased labor force participation in all economic sectors. Despite various initiatives to support basic education in Turkey since the Ottoman era, education state is still a barrier to the country’s development especially in women. When Turkey became a republic, primary education was made compulsory though still, there is a high level of illiteracy among women and low enrollment rate among the girls. Gender differences in illiteracy were quoted at 80.6 percent of women as compared to the male counterpart which was at 93.9 percent at the 2008 census. Current school enrollment rates are 91.8 percent for girls while for boys is 100 percent in primary school (Hyland). Gender differences in education are greater in the turkeys rural areas as compared to the urban areas.16.6 percent of women in urban areas cannot read and write while 30 percent of the rural women are illiterate. Only 3.9 and 9 percent of men are illiterate in rural and urban areas respectfully. The above pattern of illiteracy among women denies them employment opportunities in the urban areas, as they cannot be able to provide the skills needed for the available jobs. This leads to decreased percentage of women participation in the labor force, which increases the poverty rate among women. Conclusion The scientific and technical development has led to many changes in various aspects of the Turkish woman’s life. Industrialization has been the major driving force behind these changes. The changes have caused destruction of the traditional Turkish roles for women and have made them accept the contemporary roles. Despite the emergence of these contemporary roles, Turkish women have found themselves predominated by men in different roles in various economic sphere. Despite the fact, that Turkish economy has grown in various spheres as indicated by poverty reduction and increased education attainment, gender inequality still exists in the social, economic and political sphere. The number of women in the labor market is low as compared to that of men. This is associated with a high level of illiteracy in women. In the political sphere, women are underrepresented in national politics as compared to the local politics. Women have also been sidelined in the production and manufacturing sector of the economy. This shows that opportunities in Turkey have not been gendered. Work cited Alon, S., and Y. Haberfeld. “Labor Force Attachment and the Evolving Wage Gap Between White, Black, and Hispanic Young Women.” Work and Occupations 2007: 369–398. 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