Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FertilityPolicies (Fertility, Public Policies, and Women in Turkey in Comparative Perspective)
Période du rapport: 2016-01-15 au 2018-01-14
The objectives of the project include an analysis of the origins, development and nature of new pronatalism and the relevant policy changes in contemporary Turkey; the investigation of specific policy measures within the policy area; and the examination of gender implications.
The policy areas include the following: (1) reproductive health (e.g. abortion, C-sections, reproductive technologies, as well as family planning centres), (2) marriage, divorce and childbearing (e.g. incentives for childbirth and marriage and efforts to decrease divorce rates), and (3) work-family reconciliation (e.g. the introduction of part-time work for women with young children and insurance-premium subsidies for employers to hire more women).
The research shows that the new policy approach makes use of both incentives and deterrents, driven by a logic of pronatalism; that is, the goal to increase childbirth rates. While new pronatalism appears to be a rising trend across Europe due to concerns over population ageing, the kinds of policy measures Turkey have recently adopted and their implications for female employment and for women's status in society at large suggest departure from the EU path and a return to emphasise traditional gender roles.