Fertility Transition in Turkey : Who Is Most at Risk of Deciding Against Child Arrival?
In Turkey, female employment and education are still relatively low, while fertility levels are high compared with other European countries. However, Turkey stands just at the edge of an important social transition. Increasing female education and...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/06/24644332/fertility-transition-turkeywho-most-risk-deciding-against-child-arrival http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22181 |
| Summary: | In Turkey, female employment and
education are still relatively low, while fertility levels
are high compared with other European countries. However,
Turkey stands just at the edge of an important social
transition. Increasing female education and employment come
along with important decreases in fertility. By mobilizing
census and survey data, this paper finds that fertility
decreases are mainly caused by fewer transitions to a third
birth. Graduate women participating in the formal labor
market are most at risk of deciding against child arrival in
comparison with inactive or unemployed women. The third rank
is particularly concerned, as women’s income contribution
seems to be crucial for many families that already have two
children, and the arrival of a third child risks reducing or
stopping women’s working activities in the absence of
institutional childcare support. Policies enabling women to
combine work and family life, which have been proven
effective in other European countries, emerge as useful to
avoid a further fertility decline below replacement level in Turkey. |
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