Female labor supply in Turkey

Abstract

Examination of the historical record from western industrialized countries, as well as cross-country data, shows that female labor force participation rates initially decrease, and subsequently increase as a function of indicators of the level of development, such as average levels of education and per capita income (Psacharopoulos and Tzannatos, 1989; Goldin, 1995; Mammen and Paxson, 2000; Tansel, 2002). Taken at face value, the secular decline in female labor force participation observed in Turkey since the 1950s fits this model. However why female labor force participation rates in urban areas have remained under 20 percent for the last 15 years, despite favorable initial conditions, and favorable trends in education and fertility, is harder to explain. In particular marriage continues to bring about separation from the labor market. Starting with the early days of the Republic, legislation in Turkey paved the way for inclusion of women in the public sphere and women's representation in white collar jobs has been underscored as one of the early achievements of the new regime (Kazgan, 1981; Öncü, 1981). Three generations later, the fact that only a small fraction of the women get to collect the market returns on their investments at a time when the demand side of the urban labor market seems to have become more receptive to women, is only one reason why one may be interested to know more about female labor supply in Turkey.