According to the Gender Brief released by the OECD yesterday, the economic status of women in Turkey is among the worst for OECD countries and is significantly lower than economically similar nations. The female employment rate -- the proportion of the female population working -- which is 58 percent on average for OECD members, was a dismally low 23 percent, or less than half the average. The only nation coming close to Turkey’s was Mexico, with 43 percent. Iceland had the highest employment rate, with more than 80 percent of its women employed.
Moreover, the report showed that the highest proportion of single-earner families was in Turkey, with more than 65 percent of families having only one income earner. This was the highest out of all of the OECD nations and one of only three countries, along with Japan and Mexico, where single-income families were more common than dual-earner families. The OECD gender gap in employment rates, or the difference between employment rates for males and females, was the greatest in Turkey with a more than 42 percent difference. The closest OECD nation was its neighbor Greece, with 26 percent.
However, the Netherlands’ full-time equivalent employment gap -- or one that adjusts for those working full-time or part-time -- was the second highest at 40 percent, compared to Turkey’s 44 percent.
Fertility, childcare shows same trend
Regarding fertility rates, the report stated that fertility rates decreased markedly between 1970 and 1995 worldwide, except in Mexico and Turkey. The OECD report indicated that from 1995 onward fertility rates stayed mostly stable. Turkey’s fertility rate was the second highest, behind New Zealand, and was one of six nations with a fertility rate above two children per woman.
The report noted that in almost all OECD countries, women spend at least twice as much time caring for children as men, while adding that the largest differences are recorded in Japan and Turkey, where women spend on average four and six times more time on childcare than men, respectively. Moreover, the report stated that many OECD countries grant pension credits in different forms to women who interrupt their careers to raise children. The only countries that had no such programs were Mexico, the US and Turkey.
Adolescent fertility was also quite high in Turkey, with more than 50 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19, more than twice the OECD average of 18. In another possible disadvantage for Turkish youth, the enrolment rates in pre-school educational programs for children between 3 and 5 was approximately 15 percent in Turkey, with the next worst country, Poland, enjoying a 41 percent enrolment rate. France and Belgium had nearly 100 percent enrollment rates in pre-school education for this age group.
