PARENTS, WORK, AND CHILDCARE IN TURKEY

Turkey’s economy has grown considerably over the past 15 years, resulting in increased employment and income levels and important progress on core human development indicators. Educational outcomes for women, in particular, have improved, leading more women to join the labor force (Munoz Boudet and Wiseman, 2015). However, there is scope for further progress. Women’s labor force participation in Turkey remains less than half that of men, at 32.5 percent in 2016 (Turkstat, 2016), and Turkey ranked 129 out of 144 countries covered in the economic participation and opportunity index of the World Economic Forum’s 2016 Gender Gap Report (WEF, 2016). Reducing these gaps could lead to potentially powerful economic gains: global consulting firm McKinsey estimates that Turkey’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would increase by around 20 percent by 2025 if women’s labor force participation rate could be boosted to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 63 percent (McKinsey and TÜSIAD, 2016).