Lack of female participation is hampering economy, say economists

5 hours ago by: Laura Pitel in Ankara

Nese Gencturk had carved out a successful career as a sales representative at a Turkish construction firm. But last year, before giving birth, she quit.

“The maximum maternity leave was four months,” says the 32-year-old, cradling Demir, her one-year-old son. “I didn’t trust a childminder to look after my baby. And if I had, almost nothing would have been left of my salary.”

Ms Gencturk’s experience mirrors that of millions of Turkish women who have dropped out of the workforce after having children. It is a trend that feeds into Turkey’s low levels of female participation in the labour market. With a rate of just 36 per cent — compared to 73 per cent in the UK and 80 per cent in Sweden — Turkey comes bottom in the OECD group of 35 wealthy nations.

The yawning gender gap in the labour market is hampering the government’s efforts to return the country to the high economic growth rates it enjoyed during mid-2000s, economists say.

“Turkey has an immense unused capacity,” says Rauf Gonenc, head of the OECD’s Turkey desk. “These women who are not working could be participating in economic life, generating resources, earning incomes. The unused potential is huge.” A considerable [proportion] of men agree with the statement: ‘It is appropriate for women to work’. The problem is that men … still expect women to fulfil domestic responsibilities Asli E Mert, researcher at the Centre for Gender Studies at Istanbul’s Koc University

The root causes of the phenomenon are varied. Women who work are often confined to sectors that are poorly paid and low-skilled, such as retail and hotels, textiles and agriculture. Education levels, though significantly improved in recent years, still lag behind international standards.

Turkey’s under-developed care infrastructure is a problem for mothers like Ms Gencturk who want to return to work. Childcare is highly regulated, expensive and in short supply.

But the most important barrier is the burden placed on women as carers, economists say. Large numbers of Turkish women begin their adult life in work but stop after becoming mothers. Fewer than a third of women with children under 14 are in employment. That compares to Sweden — the best performer — with 83 per cent.

The hurdle in Turkey is not that men do not want women to work — but that they also expect them to continue doing the majority of household chores.

“A considerable [proportion] of men agree with the statement: ‘It is appropriate for women to work’,” says Asli E Mert, a researcher at the Centre for Gender Studies at Istanbul’s Koc University. “Support increases with higher educational levels. But the problem is that men do not contribute to the household enough. They still expect women to fulfil domestic responsibilities.”

Ankara acknowledges that the low female participation rate in the workforce remains a big structural problem. Julide Sarieroglu, the new labour minister, has identified it as one of her top priorities.

But there are mixed messages from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). A former health minister said two years ago that women’s sole career focus should be motherhood. Chart showing Turkey’s female labour force participation

More importantly, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned female students not to delay marriage and has repeatedly urged women to have at least three children. Mr Erdogan argues that a high birth rate is essential to preventing the problems that come with an ageing population, such as a creaking social security system and sluggish growth. The fertility rate has been consistently declining. Last year it fell to 2.1 — the threshold for maintaining a stable population size.

But feminist campaigners have accused his party, which has its roots in political Islam, of seeking to confine women to the home.

Sanem Oktar, chair of Kagider, a Turkish NGO working to support female entrepreneurs, says there needs to be a fundamental shift away from the attitude that child-rearing is women’s work.

“Being a parent is the right of both a mother and a father,” she says. “Childcare and child-rearing should also be shared equally between parents.”

There are some causes for optimism. The number of women in work hit a low during the 1980s and 2000s after mass migration to cities left women, who had worked in rural areas, struggling to adapt. But it has been steadily picking up since the late-2000s and the number of girls enrolling in higher education has grown almost fivefold under the AKP’s rule.

Experts add that university-educated women are more likely to return to the workforce after having children. Turkish women are also more likely than many of their European counterparts to study subjects that can open the door to better-paid jobs, such as science, engineering and computing.

There are prominent role models for ambitious girls, with women running some of Turkey’s most prominent institutions, including Sabancı Group, a conglomerate, and Istanbul Modern, an art gallery.

But the pace of change is too slow to bridge the gap with Turkey’s peers, experts say.“Unfortunately, the view that woman’s place is in the home and that it is her job to bring up children is still far too strong,” Ms Oktar says.