Turkey’s efforts to boost women’s employment, which lags behind behind menContinue with a new project. The Social Security Institution (SGK) team up up with European Union (EU) for women in place project for give women more Opportunities in the business world.
Women Up provides a maximum of 320 euros ($355) allowance for female employers for hiring women, on the condition that the cost of recruits will not exceed 65% of total costs. By 2022, employers will receive with a monthly allowance of about $282 (3,984 TL). the project continue to for 32 months.
Donations will be available for employers and employees in Province of Şanlıurfa, Aydın, Kahramanmaraş, the capital Ankara, Samsun, Denizli and Istanbul. The provinces were specifically chosen based on on the high number of female employers. Some 8,000 employers and employees will benefit from the project which can be applied through Turkey e-governance website.
SGK Chairman Cevdet Ceylan said that son objective was to encourage women entrepreneurs and make them stronger. against the competition and decrease not registered women the main of work.
Women Up is mainly aimed at small companies with nine employees or less and seeks to increase the number of women employees.
Ceylon said unrecorded work and the lack of women’s work were Turkey’s main problems social Security system faced. “The participation of women in the main-work is also important for economic growthfor reduce poverty. Compared to both in Turkey and in the world, women are relatively less employed. However, compared to men, women are less employed in Turkey and around the world. We have an social security law to introduce affirmative action for womenand Turkey is also to chase various projects to boost women’s employment,” noted Ceylan.
He pointed out that the number of women with social security had reached about 5.1 millions in end of 2021, compared to approximately 1 million in 2002.
Applications for Women Up have started on the 21st of February. Female employers are eligible to apply if they have up to nine employees or none at the moment and if they set up their business after March 5, 2012. Employers whose prime unpaid debt is less than the gross minimum wage are also eligible for application. The authorities plan to give free loans to 900 employers in Ankara, 500 in Samsung and 400 each in other provinces included in the project. Employers are also required to employ women 65 years old and below and should not be retired or related to the employer for eligibility.
Participation of women in the workforce is around 26%, according to official figures of 2020. It is far below the average of 48% in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and 62% in EU countries. The majority are salaried in the service and agricultural sectors, although Turkey is seeking to diversify employment statistics. Women entrepreneurs thrive in the country with a string of incentives provided by the government and, in certain cases like Women Up, jointly funded with the EU.
Also, to encourage more women to re-enter the labor market after having given up their career to raise childrenla government partial offers coverage of care expenses for working mothers. This also increased the length of maternity leave for working women and adultsparents who take care of the children also are entitled to compensation under of the employment system. Other incentives include financial support for womencooperatives and interest-free loans for female entrepreneurs.
Ceylon said during a event to introduce the project on Tuesday in the capital Ankara that unregistered work rate decreases more among women compared to men but the unsaved work was still higher in small companies. Unregistered work means financial losses for the country’s macroeconomics and a lack of access for employees at social safety benefits, something essential, especially for women who often depend on their spouses for a livelihood. Economic independence with social security is also essential for womenespecially in light of cases of domestic violence where women are sometimes forced to stay in a troubled relationship plagued by violence inflicted by their husbands and boyfriends due to a lack of economic means.
