Government to grant major subsidies for working mothers
by Compiled from Wire Services
Oct 14, 2019 - 1:14 am GMT+3
by Compiled from Wire Services
Oct 14, 2019 1:14 am
Looking to boost female employment, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services, teamed up with the European Union Delegation in Turkey to support working mothers. Women with social security and a child up to 60 months old, will receive a subsidy of TL 650 monthly. The project that covers 10,250 women, will be implemented in the cities of Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Elazığ, Istanbul, İzmir and Malatya. Women with children attending daycare schools will benefit from the project. Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they aimed to endorse legal female labor and strengthen “the balance between business and family life.” “We will carry out more projects so we can preserve the family and strengthen it,” she said. For now, the subsidies will be given for 24 months. The country’s social security agency SGK will supervise the project and the first 13,000 women applying for subsidies will receive a one-time additional subsidy of TL 650 as “stationary aid” normally reserved for families with children of school age. Selçuk says the total subsidies will amount to TL 169 million. Striving to break male domination in the country's workforce, Turkey has managed to significantly boost its women's employment rate that now stands around 34%, a substantial increase compared to figures more than a decade ago. The increase is partly the result of incentives by the government for working women, especially mothers who often choose caring for their children over full-time jobs. Gender equality and affirmative action for women are high on the agenda of the government. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pledged to end "every tradition of the age of ignorance targeting women." Women have long lagged behind men in every field, courtesy of a patriarchal mindset opposing female labor other than in rural areas. In recent years, the government has rolled out a series of incentives for working women, from longer maternity leaves to financial support for daycare needs, as well as payments to grandparents caring for their grandchildren with working parents. The government set the bar higher to increase the employment rate to at least 41% in the near future and decrease illegal labor by women to at least 30%. As for female entrepreneurs, the government plans to extend loans to more women willing to set up their own business. Women are already provided up to TL 50,000 for loans.
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