A book chapter titled “Dünya’da ve Türkiye’de Cinsiyet Temelli Yoksulluk Analizi” (Gender Based Poverty Analysis in the World and in Turkey) authored by Asst. Prof. Dr. Gülbin Erdem Karahanoğlu of the Department of Economics at IMU Faculty of Political Sciences was published in the book titled “Kadın ve Yoksulluk” (Women and Poverty) edited by Prof. Dr. Sevcan Güneş and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nagihan Durusoy-Öztepe.
In her study, Karahanoğlu compared Turkey’s gender equality with the selected countries in four main areas including labour markets, education, access to health, and political participation and discussed Turkey’s place in the world in terms of gender inequality. While the areas where Turkey experienced the deepest inequality are educational access and women’s labour force participation, especially in the recent period, the area where gender inequality against women has increased the most has been women’s access to health system.
Emphasizing that the depth of gender inequality also deepens poverty, Karahanoğlu stated that the inability of women living in poor areas to access education opportunities and to participate in the labour force or having to work for low wages in secondary markets create income inequality and constitute an obstacle for breaking the cycle of poverty. Furthermore, it was emphasized that the lack of female involvement in political and administrative decision-making mechanisms in an egalitarian manner causes the male-dominated society to internalize gender discrimination.
Referring to the importance of social protection policies in the fight against poverty, Karahanoğlu stated that active employment policies, on-the-job training, and improvement of social security coverage, which are among the most effective tools for these policies in the fight against poverty, will provide important opportunities in reducing labour market disparities and ensuring poverty alleviation for women.
Karahanoğlu, G. E. (2021). Dünya’da ve Türkiye’de Cinsiyet Temelli Yoksulluk Analizi. Güneş, S. and Durusoy Öztepe, N. (Ed.). Kadın ve Yoksulluk: Nedenleri, Görünüm Biçimleri ve Mücadele Yöntemleri Bağlamında Bütüncül Yaklaşım içinde (41-73). Ankara: Ekin Yayınevi.