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Monday, March 25, 2024

Turkey trying to boost female employment rate

Turkey hopes to exceed the female employment rate by 35 percent to meet its goal of becoming the 10th largest global economy by the year 2023.

The 2014 Economic Survey of Turkey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reported that the employment rate of women in Turkey was just 29.5 percent in 2012, which is the lowest rate among 34 countries. 

Gulden Turktan, president of the KAGIDER Women Entrepreneurs' Association in Turkey, blames the belief that women should stay home to care for their families for the low number of female workers.

The Turkish government has been actively encouraging women to join the workforce by implementing such new policies as an 18-week maternity leave and a flexible part-time working model.  Since 2008, the government also has paid a portion of a female employees' social security benefits for 54 months if a company hires women who have been out of work for six months or more.