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Children Turkey

1) Child labor is widespread in Turkey, which has the second highest rate of child poverty among OECD countries, with over 900,000 children working according to 2013 statistics. 2) A 2017 pilot study in Istanbul examined child labor among 301 working children aged 12-18 and their parents in 37 neighborhoods. While poverty is a key driver, the study sought to identify other factors influencing families' decisions to employ their children. 3) The study analyzed which groups of children are most vulnerable to labor and the costs of child labor in terms of school performance, housework, and leisure activities. It also examined reasons children enter the workforce.

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19 views3 pages

Children Turkey

1) Child labor is widespread in Turkey, which has the second highest rate of child poverty among OECD countries, with over 900,000 children working according to 2013 statistics. 2) A 2017 pilot study in Istanbul examined child labor among 301 working children aged 12-18 and their parents in 37 neighborhoods. While poverty is a key driver, the study sought to identify other factors influencing families' decisions to employ their children. 3) The study analyzed which groups of children are most vulnerable to labor and the costs of child labor in terms of school performance, housework, and leisure activities. It also examined reasons children enter the workforce.

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akmalsafwan 1306
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© © All Rights Reserved
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ABSTRACT

Children consist of one-third of the population of Turkey that has the second
highest level of child poverty among the OECD countries. Child labour is
widely observed, especially in the poor families, according to the last official
statistics obtained in 2013 in Turkey more than 900.000 children are working.
Child labour deprives children of their childhood with short-term and long-term
negative consequences. Not only those children who work under the legal age
but also children aged 15–18 who can legally work are often working illegally
due to existing informal labour market conditions that do not fulfil legal
requirements. Using the findings of the pilot research project on child labour in
2017 in Istanbul (Bağcılar and Küçükçekmece), we will elaborate on various
dimensions of child labour in urban settings. The research was conducted, in
thirty-seven neighbourhoods with 301 working children between the ages of
12–18 and with one of their parents. Acknowledging its limitations, the findings
of the pilot research still provide important insights. Poverty is the root cause
of child labour, especially in urban Turkey, nevertheless, our work seeks to
determine which other factors play an important role in influencing the
decision to enter a child into the labour market. Material well-being is crucial
for children's wellbeing, but it is not the only determining factor. By clustering
analysis, we elaborate on which group of children are more vulnerable and
therefore should be immediately targeted. Presenting the environment in
which children are working, the costs of being a child-worker are discussed in
terms of school performance and drop-out, housework and leisure time
activities. Finally, we focus on the reasons of being a child worker.
KEYWORDS:

 Children
 child labour
 informality
 Istanbul
 Turkey

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes
1.. According to the 2017 Report of Worker Health and Security Council
(İSİG), 60 children who had been working died in the year 2017, noting that 18
of them below the age of 15.

2. Anyone who employs children under the age of 15 is open to prosecution


and for the age group. According to Turkish law (4857), only those who have
completed primary education and are above 14 years of age are allowed to
work. Workers who are 14 years old are defined as ‘child workers,’ while those
between 15 and 18 years of age are defined as ‘young workers.’ Child and
young workers are only allowed to be employed in jobs that do not hinder their
success at school and it is forbidden to employ young workers who are not 16
years old in jobs identified as heavy and dangerous. Furthermore, a work
contract is necessary for regular health control and social security.

3. The new regulation within the Health and Safety Law (6331) is that the
employer will have to assign a workplace doctor and other health care
personnel for all the places of work, in order to avoid occupational risks is
postponed and will be implemented by the year 2020. The previous legislation
which obliges the employer to assign a workplace doctor in cases where the
number of employees is 50 and above is abolished and the workplace doctor
becomes compulsory for all workplaces regardless of which danger
classification they fall under, in order to avoid occupational risks and to
provide labor health and safety services involving the workplace in order to
protect employees.

4. Uyan Semerci;Erdoğan and Durmuş (Citation2017) available


at https://goc.bilgi.edu.tr/media/uploads/2017/11/22/calisan-cocuk-web.pdf .

5. Çocuk ve genç işçilerin çalıştırılma usul ve esasları hakkında yönetmelik,


(2004).

6. Since target population of the survey didn't include Syrians or other


immigrants, this definition includes children of internal migrants.

7. ‘Deserving poor’ are those in need who are unable to work because they
are too old, disabled, or too sick which have been reflected in differences in
treatment of welfare recipients by governments (Bridges Citation2017).

Additional information
Funding
As part of the Prevention of Child Labor Project conducted by Istanbul Bilgi
University Child Studies Unit and Center for Migration Research, this research
is funded by Inditex S.A.
Notes on contributors
Emre Erdoğan

Emre ERDOĞAN is associate professor at the Department of International


Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University. He graduated from the Galatasaray Lisesi and
from the Political Sciences Department of Boğaziçi University, where he also
completed his MA and PhD. He has been working in the public opinion and
marketing research sector since 1996 and became one of the founders of the Infakto
RW (2003). He is expert on quantitative techniques, sampling, and political
methodology and the author of numerous papers about foreign policy and public
opinion, political participation, volunteerism, and social capital. He has conducted
various research projects on Europeanization and European perceptions of Turkey,
othering and empathy, polarization, populism, and seasonal agricultural workers.

Pınar Uyan Semerci

Pinar UYAN SEMERCİ is professor of Politics at the Department of International


Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University and director of the Centre for Migration Research.
She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Bogazici University, Turkey. Her
research interests lie at the crossroads between political philosophy, political
economy, social policy and methodology in which she focuses on topics relating to
universalism, global justice, human development, capability approach, vulnerable
groups, poverty, migration; collective identity formation (gender, religion and
nationalism) and well-being of children. She has coordinated numerous research
projects and published mainly on othering; polarization; poverty; capabilities; child
labour and well-being.

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