Decent Work in the Turkish Labor Market: An Empirical Study from a Gender Perspective

Lower labor market participation compared to men and their concentration in lower-status jobs pose a substantial barrier to women’s access to decent work in Türkiye. Furthermore, Covid-19 pandemic has had a disproportionately adverse impact on women. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the concept of decent work within the Turkish labor market, emphasizing its gendered dimensions and the shifts induced by Covid-19 pandemic. We estimate two separate probit models for decent and non-decent employment by using microdata from the Household Labor Force Survey (HLFS) spanning 2019 to 2023. We run separate regressions for females and males to examine potential gender differences in the likelihood of decent and non-decent employment. Our findings highlight persistent gender disparities in access to decent work, with women disproportionately represented in non-decent employment. This overrepresentation is particularly notable in the services and agricultural sectors and among married or divorced women, suggesting the pervasive influence of societal norms and structural barriers. The U-shaped relationship between educational attainment and non-decent employment among women further underscores the complexity of these dynamics, where higher education paradoxically coincides with increased non-decent employment in some contexts. Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated existing vulnerabilities, disproportionately impacting women's employment due to their concentration in sectors most affected by economic disruptions and their dual burden of unpaid caregiving responsibilities.