Gender-based Structure of Agricultural Employment in Turkey and Social Policy Proposals

Abstract

Although agricultural employment is the main driver of employment in Turkey, since 2000, it has been seen that employment predominantly shifts from agriculture to the services sector. However, the proportion of employment in the agriculture sector to Turkey's total employment (almost 1 in 5) displays that agricultural employment has still been of its importance. In this regard, this study aims to examine the gender differences in the relationship between agricultural employment and the demographic and work-related variables, by using contingency tabulation and Chi-square analysis method to the microdata from Turkish Labour Force Survey, and suggest some social policies for policy-makers in light on the findings obtained. The results of the paper reveal that although the proportion of women in agricultural employment is higher than that of men, women employed are far more affected by precarious employment forms including unpaid family worker, part-time, temporary or limited time working and informal employment, compared to men.