Around 43.1 percent of people aged 18 to 74 in Türkiye are responsible for caring for children, grandchildren, elderly relatives or family members with disabilities or long-term health conditions, according to a new survey by the country’s statistics office.
Caregiving responsibilities were slightly more common among women, at 45.6 percent, compared with 40.6 percent among men, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on May 7.
Among people with caregiving duties, the labor force participation rate stood at 60.5 percent, slightly above the national average of 58.2 percent.
However, the figures revealed a sharp gender gap.
While 86 percent of men with caregiving responsibilities were active in the labor force, the rate for women was only 37.8 percent.
Childcare was by far the most common form of caregiving among employed people.
Nearly four in ten employed adults said they were responsible only for caring for children under 15.
The survey also showed that most working parents in Türkiye do not rely on professional childcare services.
Among employed people caring for children under 15, 83 percent said they did not use any formal childcare support such as daycare centers or paid in-home care.
More than half of employed people who did not use childcare services said they handled childcare on their own or together with their spouse. Others cited high costs as a reason for avoiding professional services.
Long working hours emerged as the biggest challenge for balancing employment and caregiving.
