A cash-for-care scheme targeting mainly families with at least one disabled member has become the... more A cash-for-care scheme targeting mainly families with at least one disabled member has become the central policy response to the care needs of persons with disabilities in Turkey's welfare regime. This thesis explores how beneficiaries perceive this program by focusing specifically on caregivers of children with disabilities. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 caregivers of children with disabilities—four primary caregivers who have been receiving cash-for-care at the time of the research and four primary caregivers who have lost their benefits—in Istanbul's Atasehir and Sultangazi districts between February and May 2016. The research reveals that although cash-for-care scheme has been widely welcomed by the informal caregivers, it has been perceived by the caregivers as a symbolic financial aid instead of a wage in exchange for their informal care work. In addition, cash-for-care beneficiaries that were included in this study perceive this scheme primarily as a financial support for poverty alleviation rather than a cash benefit in order to meet the special needs of their children with disabilities. While the introduction of a targeted cash-for-care allowance has signified an extension of state responsibility in social care, this thesis concludes that the program functions not as a care support scheme but as a social assistance scheme for the very poor.
One of the biggest emphasis in the feminist literature is that the most critical area is the wome... more One of the biggest emphasis in the feminist literature is that the most critical area is the women’s economic freedom and the need of female labour force participation in order to provide a gender equality. According to a study of Women’s Human Rights Project in 1997, the biggest obstacle for women to participate in the labour force is the motherhood and childcare in Turkey (İlkkaracan, Kim, & Kaya, 2015). Therefore, the institutionalization of childcare emerged as both a need to improve the female labour force participation and their economic power within the means of social right and social care. In Turkey, although the labour force participation rates are at around %50 which is very low among the OECD countries, the labour force participation rate between male and female tells a lot about the division of labour in the country and why it is impossible to expect a positive shift for the benefit of women in the future with the relevant childcare policies (Özgan, 2010). According to TURKSTAT, 2004 is the only year that the female labour force participation has increased until 2015 between the years 1988 and 2015. However, since 2014, the female participation rate has passed just above the %30, marking a striking gender participation gap of 40 percentage points between male and female (İlkkaracan, Kim, & Kaya, 2015). The Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey since 2002 has been marked by the rise of conservatization in socio-cultural and political matters, which has generated critical implications for gender relations in Turkey. In the AKP's conservative politics, being a woman is first and foremost defined within the familial sphere through traditional gender codes. The neoliberal economic policy with a conservative political agenda leads to an emphasis on “strong familialism” and a call to fight the modernization trends that “erode family ties” (Yazıcı, 2012). However, while doing that, the AKP government pushed forth the family and especially the female members in families to fill any gaps in caregiving. As the “mothers” have become the primary caregiver within the family, the lack of good institutional childcare services and “need-based” rather than “right-based” time leaves have also supported the female to be part of their homes, rather than labour force. This article will demonstrate how the childcare policies that are interwined with a familialistic discourse lead to explicit familialism in Turkey and how this type of familialism create a “gendered” and “non-inclusive” citizenship for women.
Turkey has been criticized for its poor workplace safety record and its failure to prevent workpl... more Turkey has been criticized for its poor workplace safety record and its failure to prevent workplace accidents by ILO, particularly in the wake of a series of mine accidents in recent years. Within a comparison, the official fatal work accidents in Turkey are five times more than the average of fatal work accident in EU since 2002 (Odman, 2013). As there were major legislative changes concerning occupational health and safety and work accidents since 2008, still, work accidents have been increasing since 2010 and there is not a reduction in the number of (fatal) work accidents and despite of legal amendments. Still, approximately 2 million workers had workplace accidents and 13.500 have lost their lives between 2002 and 2013 in Turkey. Everyday, there are 172 work accidents on average and 6 employees become permanently incapable of working and 4 workers lose their lives in Turkish context (Aytaç, 2015). However, as the most of work accidents have been happening in the mining sector, it is possible to claim that the political economy of the mining sector should be emphasized in Turkey in order to understand the dynamics behind the high work accident rate and poor occupational health and safety measures. Therefore, this article will demonstrate the mining sector within the work accidents and occupational health and safety measures in Turkey, through the dimensions of the privatization, relationship between the capital ownership and government, subcontracting as a way of production, working hours and unionization.
A cash-for-care scheme targeting mainly families with at least one disabled member has become the... more A cash-for-care scheme targeting mainly families with at least one disabled member has become the central policy response to the care needs of persons with disabilities in Turkey's welfare regime. This thesis explores how beneficiaries perceive this program by focusing specifically on caregivers of children with disabilities. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 caregivers of children with disabilities—four primary caregivers who have been receiving cash-for-care at the time of the research and four primary caregivers who have lost their benefits—in Istanbul's Atasehir and Sultangazi districts between February and May 2016. The research reveals that although cash-for-care scheme has been widely welcomed by the informal caregivers, it has been perceived by the caregivers as a symbolic financial aid instead of a wage in exchange for their informal care work. In addition, cash-for-care beneficiaries that were included in this study perceive this scheme primarily as a financial support for poverty alleviation rather than a cash benefit in order to meet the special needs of their children with disabilities. While the introduction of a targeted cash-for-care allowance has signified an extension of state responsibility in social care, this thesis concludes that the program functions not as a care support scheme but as a social assistance scheme for the very poor.
One of the biggest emphasis in the feminist literature is that the most critical area is the wome... more One of the biggest emphasis in the feminist literature is that the most critical area is the women’s economic freedom and the need of female labour force participation in order to provide a gender equality. According to a study of Women’s Human Rights Project in 1997, the biggest obstacle for women to participate in the labour force is the motherhood and childcare in Turkey (İlkkaracan, Kim, & Kaya, 2015). Therefore, the institutionalization of childcare emerged as both a need to improve the female labour force participation and their economic power within the means of social right and social care. In Turkey, although the labour force participation rates are at around %50 which is very low among the OECD countries, the labour force participation rate between male and female tells a lot about the division of labour in the country and why it is impossible to expect a positive shift for the benefit of women in the future with the relevant childcare policies (Özgan, 2010). According to TURKSTAT, 2004 is the only year that the female labour force participation has increased until 2015 between the years 1988 and 2015. However, since 2014, the female participation rate has passed just above the %30, marking a striking gender participation gap of 40 percentage points between male and female (İlkkaracan, Kim, & Kaya, 2015). The Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey since 2002 has been marked by the rise of conservatization in socio-cultural and political matters, which has generated critical implications for gender relations in Turkey. In the AKP's conservative politics, being a woman is first and foremost defined within the familial sphere through traditional gender codes. The neoliberal economic policy with a conservative political agenda leads to an emphasis on “strong familialism” and a call to fight the modernization trends that “erode family ties” (Yazıcı, 2012). However, while doing that, the AKP government pushed forth the family and especially the female members in families to fill any gaps in caregiving. As the “mothers” have become the primary caregiver within the family, the lack of good institutional childcare services and “need-based” rather than “right-based” time leaves have also supported the female to be part of their homes, rather than labour force. This article will demonstrate how the childcare policies that are interwined with a familialistic discourse lead to explicit familialism in Turkey and how this type of familialism create a “gendered” and “non-inclusive” citizenship for women.
Turkey has been criticized for its poor workplace safety record and its failure to prevent workpl... more Turkey has been criticized for its poor workplace safety record and its failure to prevent workplace accidents by ILO, particularly in the wake of a series of mine accidents in recent years. Within a comparison, the official fatal work accidents in Turkey are five times more than the average of fatal work accident in EU since 2002 (Odman, 2013). As there were major legislative changes concerning occupational health and safety and work accidents since 2008, still, work accidents have been increasing since 2010 and there is not a reduction in the number of (fatal) work accidents and despite of legal amendments. Still, approximately 2 million workers had workplace accidents and 13.500 have lost their lives between 2002 and 2013 in Turkey. Everyday, there are 172 work accidents on average and 6 employees become permanently incapable of working and 4 workers lose their lives in Turkish context (Aytaç, 2015). However, as the most of work accidents have been happening in the mining sector, it is possible to claim that the political economy of the mining sector should be emphasized in Turkey in order to understand the dynamics behind the high work accident rate and poor occupational health and safety measures. Therefore, this article will demonstrate the mining sector within the work accidents and occupational health and safety measures in Turkey, through the dimensions of the privatization, relationship between the capital ownership and government, subcontracting as a way of production, working hours and unionization.
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In Turkey, although the labour force participation rates are at around %50 which is very low among the OECD countries, the labour force participation rate between male and female tells a lot about the division of labour in the country and why it is impossible to expect a positive shift for the benefit of women in the future with the relevant childcare policies (Özgan, 2010). According to TURKSTAT, 2004 is the only year that the female labour force participation has increased until 2015 between the years 1988 and 2015. However, since 2014, the female participation rate has passed just above the %30, marking a striking gender participation gap of 40 percentage points between male and female (İlkkaracan, Kim, & Kaya, 2015).
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey since 2002 has been marked by the rise of conservatization in socio-cultural and political matters, which has generated critical implications for gender relations in Turkey. In the AKP's conservative politics, being a woman is first and foremost defined within the familial sphere through traditional gender codes. The neoliberal economic policy with a conservative political agenda leads to an emphasis on “strong familialism” and a call to fight the modernization trends that “erode family ties” (Yazıcı, 2012). However, while doing that, the AKP government pushed forth the family and especially the female members in families to fill any gaps in caregiving. As the “mothers” have become the primary caregiver within the family, the lack of good institutional childcare services and “need-based” rather than “right-based” time leaves have also supported the female to be part of their homes, rather than labour force. This article will demonstrate how the childcare policies that are interwined with a familialistic discourse lead to explicit familialism in Turkey and how this type of familialism create a “gendered” and “non-inclusive” citizenship for women.
In Turkey, although the labour force participation rates are at around %50 which is very low among the OECD countries, the labour force participation rate between male and female tells a lot about the division of labour in the country and why it is impossible to expect a positive shift for the benefit of women in the future with the relevant childcare policies (Özgan, 2010). According to TURKSTAT, 2004 is the only year that the female labour force participation has increased until 2015 between the years 1988 and 2015. However, since 2014, the female participation rate has passed just above the %30, marking a striking gender participation gap of 40 percentage points between male and female (İlkkaracan, Kim, & Kaya, 2015).
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey since 2002 has been marked by the rise of conservatization in socio-cultural and political matters, which has generated critical implications for gender relations in Turkey. In the AKP's conservative politics, being a woman is first and foremost defined within the familial sphere through traditional gender codes. The neoliberal economic policy with a conservative political agenda leads to an emphasis on “strong familialism” and a call to fight the modernization trends that “erode family ties” (Yazıcı, 2012). However, while doing that, the AKP government pushed forth the family and especially the female members in families to fill any gaps in caregiving. As the “mothers” have become the primary caregiver within the family, the lack of good institutional childcare services and “need-based” rather than “right-based” time leaves have also supported the female to be part of their homes, rather than labour force. This article will demonstrate how the childcare policies that are interwined with a familialistic discourse lead to explicit familialism in Turkey and how this type of familialism create a “gendered” and “non-inclusive” citizenship for women.