Summaries from Social Policy Section
Child Labour in the World and Turkey (2020)
Child labour is one of the most critical social problems globally and a severe obstacle to the enjoyment of fundamental children's rights, such as the right to life, health, education, and development.
In this study, changes in the global child labour situation over time, international regulations/conventions, and domestic legal framework on combating child labour, and national policy and programme for eliminating and preventing Child Labour in Turkey are analysed.
Despite the intense efforts at the global level, the latest estimates indicate that 152 million children are still engaged in child labour, almost half of them in worst forms, including slavery; illicit activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution; and participation in armed conflict, jobs in hazardous environments.
Turkey has given special importance to eliminating child labour and has been actively combating against child labour since the beginning of the 1990s. International Labour Organisation launched the “International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)” in 1991. Turkey became one of the first six countries participated in ILO’s IPEC in 1992.
According to Child Labour Force 2019 Survey of the Turkish Statistical Institute, 720,000 children aged between 5 and 17, which accounts for 4.4 % of the total child within this age group in Turkey, were engaged in economic activity. This ratio was 15,2% in 1994. Child labour is especially seen in agriculture, street and industry.
Turkey adopted all international agreements, EU directives, and recommendations with regard child labour to domestic law. However, there are some inconsistent norms and regulatory gaps in the legislation. In addition to the deficiencies in the regulation, regulation not to be implemented is another reason that makes it challenging to prevent child labour.
In Turkey the fight against child labour continues. 2018 was declared the "The Year of Combating Child Labour" and "National Program for Combating Child Labour (2017-2023)" entered into force by The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services.
Regulations for Gender Quotas on Executive Boards in Turkey and European Countries (2021)
The gender gap is considered as one of the most important labour market issues faced in working life. It is obvious that women are less likely to find a job and participate in the labour market than men. Moreover, women are exposed to various inequalities not only in terms of participation in the labour market but also after they are employed. One of them is experienced in the promotion of women to senior positions. It is observed that percentage of women on the boards of directors is still low in many companies. It is noteworthy that countries with relatively high representation rates of women on boards are usually the developed countries.
In recent years, the representation of women in senior positions is tried to be increased by introducing non-compulsory or compulsory quotas for women members in legislations in many countries.
In Turkey, although not compulsory, it is regulated by the Capital Markets Board’s Communique in 2014 that it is necessary for companies to achieve a target rate of at least 25% for the ratio of female members of company executive boards until a target date and policies should be created to achieve these targets. It’s worth mentioning that, in Turkey, while the ratio of female members in listed companies’ boards of directors was 7.7% in 2012, this ratio was realized as 18.5% in 2020.
In some European countries introducing compulsory quotas, such as France, Italy and Germany, there have been rapid increases in the ratios of female members of company executive boards. According to Eurostat’s data, the highest share of female board members in the largest publicly listed companies is recorded in France with 45% in 2019. This is followed by Sweden (38%), Germany, Belgium and Italy (%36).
The Burden of Unpaid Care Work of Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic (2021)
The novel Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) first broke out in China in 2019, spread worldwide in 2020, and turned into a pandemic having global effects. There have been various consequences of the pandemic affecting social life, such as social distance rule, curfew, travel restrictions, flexibility in working hours, distance education, working from home, closing institutions, or workplaces. The Covid-19, defined by the ILO as the worst global crisis since the Second World War, has been led to significant economic and social outcomes, leading to different effects on different segments of the society. In this context, one of the groups affected differently from the Covid-19 is women.
In this study, concerning the different effects of the epidemic, women's unpaid care work stemming from gender inequalities has been evaluated. Unpaid care work refers to all non-market, unpaid activities, which have no monetary equivalent, carried out in households such as cooking, cleaning, or direct care of the persons. Based on the reports of international organizations conducting gender-based research and studies during the Covid-19 pandemic, women's unpaid care work has increased overall. Although the burden has grown for both men and women, the time allocated by women to care work has been more than men during the pandemic period, as before the epidemic.
In the face of this unequal care work at home, recommendations for policymakers have concentrated around specific points as follows:
- Data concerning unpaid care work should be disaggregated by gender, and unpaid care work and domestic labor should be visible.
- Unpaid care should be recognized, reduced, and redistributed.
- Child, elderly and disabled care services should be accessible and of high quality.
- Policies in the field of the labor market and social protection should be gender-sensitive and should be regulated by considering the balance in individuals' work and private lives.
