About 43.1% of the 59.1 million people aged 18-74 in Türkiye last year had caregiving responsibilities, according to newly released data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
TurkStat published its 2025 “Work and Family Life Compatibility” bulletin, based on a survey conducted alongside the Household Labor Force Survey throughout 2025 among people aged 18-74 in households participating in first-round interviews.
The study differs from previous research in terms of methodology and variables covered. Conducted simultaneously with similar surveys across European Union countries, it aims to assess individuals’ labor force participation, caregiving responsibilities and the impact of those responsibilities on work and family life.
Caregiving responsibilities include regularly caring for children and grandchildren under the age of 15, as well as sick, disabled or dependent spouses, children or relatives aged 15 and older, whether they live in the same household or elsewhere.
According to the findings, 43.1% of people aged 18-74 had caregiving responsibilities in 2025. The rate stood at 40.6% for men and 45.6% for women.
The labor force participation rate among people aged 18-74 was 58.2%. Among those with caregiving responsibilities, the rate rose to 60.5%, compared with 56.4% for those without caregiving duties.
Among women, labor force participation was 37.8% for those with caregiving responsibilities and 41.7% for those without. For men, the rates were 86% and 70%, respectively.
Among employed people aged 18-74, 39% were responsible only for child care, while 2.3% were responsible only for grandchild care and another 2.3% only for adult care, including dependent spouses, children or relatives over the age of 15.
Meanwhile, 2.1% of employed individuals simultaneously managed child care and adult care or grandchild and adult care responsibilities.
Among employed individuals with child care responsibilities for children under 15, 14% used institutional care centers, 1.6% relied on paid in-home care services, and 1.4% used both. However, 83% said they did not receive any professional care services.
Among employed individuals responsible for adult care, 17% used paid in-home care services and 3.6% used institutional care centers, while 79.3% did not benefit from professional care support.
Of employed caregivers who did not use child care services, 50.8% said they managed child care themselves or together with their spouse. Another 19.7% stated that the children could take care of themselves, while 17.6% cited the high cost of professional child care services. Around 5.5% said child care was handled by grandparents or other relatives.
Among employed individuals who did not use adult care services, 72.6% said they did not need professional care support.
Meanwhile, 17.9% of those not using adult care services cited high costs, while 5.3% said there were no available care services or open capacity within reachable distance.
Among employed people with caregiving responsibilities, 70.1% reported no difficulty balancing work and caregiving duties.
However, among the 4.3 million people who reported difficulties, 38.4% cited long working hours as the primary challenge, 26.9% pointed to demanding or exhausting jobs, and 8.9% said long commuting times between home and work created difficulties.
The share of men reporting difficulties due to long working hours stood at 39.3%, compared with 36.4% among women.
