Women Lost as Unregistered Economy Grew
Ecevit and Kalaycioglu said women were mostly working in the unregistered sector.
19.9 of every 100 workers are women
Ecevit talked about the data from a survey by the State Statistics Institute released in 2004. The data are from the fourth quarter of 2003. According to Ecevit, the following are the important problems concerning both women and men:
* The proportion of participating in the labor force is decreasing compared to past quarters. This is true both for rural and urban areas.
* The proportion of participating in the labor force is 69.5 percent for men, and 25.1 percent for women. The proportions have never been this low in Turkey's history.
* The proportion of women workers has dropped 11.3 percent compared to the same period last year. That means, 721 less women are currently in the labor force compared to the same period last year.
* Women's proportion in the total labor force in urban areas is 19.9 percent. 19.9 of every 100 people who work are women.
Women are getting poorer
"Besides structural, economic and cultural factors, globalization adds to the difficulties women have in the labor force," said Kalaycioglu. She added that women were working with no job security, no unions and were paid little in jobs that require no knowledge or skills, and thus were becoming poorer and poorer.
Kalaycioglu said unions were not effective in defending the rights of women. "Instead of paying attention to women's labor and workers of marginal sectors, unions are more interested in men laborers who have permanent jobs and can pay fees," said Kalaycioglu.
International Relations Expert Gaye Yilmaz from the Anti-MAI work group, underlined the fact that a ban, preventing women from working at night, which is also in effect in the European Union (EU) countries, was lifted through a November law.
Ecevit: Women who work at homes are made invisible
"Both men and women are being harmed by the growth of the informal sector," said Prof. Ecevit. She drew attention to the differences in working conditions of those who work at houses and those who work at workplaces, instead of the differences in working conditions of men and women.
However, those who work at houses are mostly women.
"In the informal sector, women and men usually work under same conditions at workplaces under the will of the employer," said Ecevit. She went on to talk about women who work at homes:
"Those who work at homes are an important part of this sector. These are mostly women who work as cleaners, babysitters, or work under an organization or factory and do complementary work.They are made completely invisible. Their income is not compared to the income of women who do the same job. They cannot bargain for their income."
Women work in insecure jobs seen "fit for women"
Ecevit said these women, who use their houses as ateliers, have ambiguous working hours, work besides looking after children and doing housework, and they are deprived of permanent jobs and a regular salary.
The decrease in the overall labor force has a negative effect on women. Because there are so many unemployed women, women accept to work with the minimum wage even in the formal sector.
"These women are working as the most insecure workers," said Ecevit. "Because they are insecure, they cannot bargain for better pay or conditions and they cannot defend their social and economic rights."
Ecevit added:
"The conditions of women working in the formal sector are a little bit better that those of the women working in the unregistered sector. But they still work for very little money and are pushed to do work that does not require any skills. The fact that they concentrate on jobs that are seen 'fit for women' is another important problem."
Kalaycioglu: It is impossible for women working in the informal sector to earn a living for her family
Kalaycioglu underlined the widespread approach that "men earn the money for his family." She said it is impossible for women working in the informal sector to earn enough for the family, but added that their income is still an important contribution to the family.
"Women's labor is important in improving the wealth level of the family. Women working as day laborers earn 40 percent of the total income of the family. This is an important amount," said Kalaycioglu.
Kalaycioglu said there was family and social protection mechanisms in Turkey instead of unions. She proposes that a unifying social security system to be established.
"Social security is a guarantee for both retirement and health. Although women face serious health problems, they do not have access to health services," said Kalaycioglu.
"Professional courses to improve the knowledge and skills of women should become more widespread," she added
Yilmaz: Strong but unimplemented judicial systems
"In Turkey, women and men doing the same job, do not get equal pay and do not have equal career opportunities," said Yilmaz. She said the state was only making it seem like it is doing something about this problem.
"States are forming strong judicial systems. But the conditions under which we live point to a world where the judicial systems are not implemented," added Yilmaz.
She said lifting of a ban to prevent women from working at night was an example of eliminating collective rights.
"This means that women, who do not have enough time to finish the housework during the day, will take up the work at night. This is a tremendous load, a 24-hour work. This means going backwards." (BB/EU/EA/YE)