Familialization of care arrangements in Turkey: questioning the social inclusion of ‘the invisible’

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the dynamics of care arrangements for children, persons with disabilities (PWD), and the elderly, who constitute the group of ‘the invisible’ in social policy in Turkey. The invisibility of these three groups stems from their systematic, consistent and diffuse exclusion from the social, political and economic life of the country. The context of social inclusion policies for these groups in Turkey presents a challenge to assess their implications in three important respects: (I) the lack of data concerning these groups, (II) the lack of policy tools and instruments assessing the existing assistance and services for these groups, to allow comparative evaluations, and (III) general orientation of care services and policies towards families, therefore not targeting the direct correspondents of these policies. This paper outlines existing care policies for children, PWD and the elderly in Turkey, with a view to assessing their implications for promoting social inclusion, in two different aspects. While social inclusion literature is predominantly focused on the implication of social policies for the care-receivers, this paper examines the social inclusion implications of care policies also for those who are traditionally assigned the role of caregiver, namely, women. The latter dimension is a consequence of the increasing familialization of care policies in Turkey, which leads to the exclusion of women from economic and social life, thus reproducing the invisibility of these three groups while sustaining an overarching invisibility, that of women.

KEYWORDS:

• Care policies
• social inclusion
• children
• elderly
• persons with disabilities
• familialization of care

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For the sake of clarity, this paper focuses on care policies targeting children in the 0–6 age group, namely, children in the pre-school phase who are in need of care and who are at the centre of discussions on early childhood education and care.

2. Technical Assistance for Increasing the Institutional Capacity of the Ministry of Family and Social Policy in the Field of Social Inclusion Policies, Action 2.1. Development of Social Inclusion Indicators and Monitoring, Data Collection and Evaluation Methods. Ankara, 2016 (EuropeAid/136,124/IH/SER/TR).

3. Including Ministries of Family and Social Policies, Health, National Education, Labour, and their relevant units .

4. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, defines a ‘child’ as ‘a person below the age of 18, unless the laws of a particular country set the legal age for adulthood younger’ (Article 1). http://www.unicef.org/turkey/crc/_cr23c.html#art1.

5. Nevertheless, it must be underlined that this statement is generally the case for countries with developing welfare states, whereas, in countries with well-established public pension systems, the rate of income poverty among the elderly is generally lower than that of the overall population.

6. ADNKS, 2016 (Address based population registration system).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A. İdil Aybars

Ay#x0015F;e İdil Aybars is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Social Policy Master’s Program at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara (PhD. in Social Sciences, University of Ulster, UK, 2007; MSc in European Studies, London School of Economics and Political  Science (LSE), UK, 2002; MS (2001) and BS (1999) in Sociology, Middle East Technical University, Turkey). Her research and teaching focuses on social policy in the EU and Turkey, sociology of EU, and media and communication studies. She has published articles in journals such as Comparative European Politics, Social Policy & Administration, and Industrial Relations Journal; and book chapters in edited volumes such as Gender and the Open Method of Coordination: Perspectives on Law, Governance and Equality in the EU, and European Union Non-Discrimination Law and Intersectionality: Investigating the Triangle of Racial, Gender and Disability Discrimination. She has been involved in various research projects aiming to promote social inclusion and gender equality in Turkey, funded by EU, UNFPA, FAO, UNICEF and other national and international organizations. 

F. Umut Beşpınar

Fatma Umut Beşpınar is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara (Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, USA, 2007; MA in Sociology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 2001; BS in Sociology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 1998). Her areas of interest are development, social policy, gender and women studies, women’s labor force participation, family and work. She has published chapters in edited volumes such as Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Agents of Change; Routledge Handbook of Modern Turkey; Migration, Family and Social Position: Contributions to Education, Gender and Care Dynamics; Turkey and the Politics of National Identity: Social, Economic and Cultural Transformation and Gender and Sexuality in Muslim Cultures and articles in such journals Women Studies International Forum; New Technology, Work and Employment;Journal of Middle East Women's Studies and Community, Work & Family. She worked as a researcher and expert for many national and international agencies such as WB, IOM, UNDP and UNICEF. 

H. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu

Sibel Kalaycıoğlu (Prof. Dr.) owns a Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Anthropology from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. She is the Chair of the Department of Sociology of METU and the president of Turkish Sociological Association. Her research interests focus on analysis of class and gender inequalities, measuring socio-economic status and social mobility, migration, intergenerational relations, welfare regime in Turkey focusing on social networks, ageing and care, women’s employment in informal sector and various issues like poverty and social exclusion indicators, citizenship and civil society initiatives related to sustainable development. Also she has conducted field research on social impact assessment of irrigation and dam projects in the South Eastern Region of Turkey. One of her major interests is sociology of disasters mainly focusing on social vulnerability of disadvantaged groups on which she has worked in joint projects with some municipalities in large cities like Istanbul and Eskişehir. She has participated and coordinated various social research funded by international institutions such as World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP and EU. She has also coordinated various national projects funded by Turkish Scientific Research Council and by some government departments. She has many publications in journals and books, national and international, related to her research areas.