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Women in Turkey
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Statistics on Turkish Women
LIFE EXPECTANCY In 1989, life expectancy at birth is 66.01 years for female, 63.26 years for male.
MARRIAGE & DIVORCE In Turkey, marriage is universal. The evidence of universal marriage is 95 per cent or more ever-married women and 90 percent or more ever-married men among population age 39 in 1990. Divorce is still not common because of traditional structure of Turkey. The percentage of widowed and divorced women is higher than of men, as they do not intend to re-marry.
FERTILITY Turkey has a young population because of high fertility. However, since the fertility rate has decreased during the last decade, the age structure of the population has changed. As expected, median age of female is higher than the male, and median age of both sexes is increasing. The fertility rate has sharply declined during the last decade in Turkey. In the early 1970s, total fertility rate was estimated at 5 children per woman. The 1993 Turkish Demographic & Health Survey finding estimates 2.7 children per women. The increase of the female schooling ratio and other background variables (i.e. participation of labour force) characterized by educational level have contributed to the fertility decline.
INFANT & CHILD MORTALITY Infant mortality rate is 52.6 per thousand live births in 1993. Infant mortality is still very high, although it has sharply declined in the last decade. The decline in infant mortality is 35 percent in the last 10 years. As expected, the estimated infant mortality rate for male infants is higher than for female infants in 1989. Child mortality, in contrast to infant mortality, is quite low in Turkey. Maternal mortality rate, derived from the 1989 Turkish Demographic Survey (reference period=1981), is 132 per 100,000 live births.
ABORTION After legalizing abortion in 1983, induced abortion has been performed at government hospitals in Turkey. The private sector also provides abortion services.
LITERACY & EDUCATION The illiteracy rate is the most significant indicator of gender inequality in Turkey. Despite the sharp decline of the illiteracy rate, one third of Turkish women remain illiterate. Although primary education is compulsory in Turkey, the enrollment ration of female for primary school is lower than that of male. The gender inequality can be observed also in other levels of education.
LABOUR After 1950, the massive migration flow from rural to urban areas of Turkey can be specified as male labour migration. As a result of internal migration, the male population is still higher than the female population in urban areas. The role and participation of women in the labour force differ vastly from rural to urban areas in Turkey. In rural areas, female participation rate in the labour force is 43.7%, compared to 16.5% for females in urban areas (October 1994). Non-agricultural sectors have created a large number of new jobs, but this process has a negative impact on female employment because of male migration from rural to urban areas for non-agricultural jobs. While women are employed in the agricultural sector as unpaid family workers, they are not qualified to participate in the urban labour force.
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Societies/turksoc/intro/turkwom
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