Increasing women's employment in the context of suitable work in the process of achieving gender equality: European country and Turkey to comparison

The prescribed social roles for women and men create inequalities in the distribution of rights, opportunities, and resources. It is a well-known fact that the negative consequences of these inequalities affect women more, and this inequality is not only a problem for women but also for countries. In this respect, gender inequality is an important determinant in key areas such as development level, income, status, employment, welfare level, competitiveness, and development. This study includes factors that reinforce inequality within the workforce, the benefits of achieving gender equality and the regulations related to achieving gender equality in Turkey compared to European Union countries. As stated in the study's objective the focus is on achieving gender equality and women's employment. The concept of decent work, occurring under conditions of gender equality, provides the opportunity to protect women's fundamental rights, social security, and social dialogue rights within their work life. In this context, women's employment, such as general labor force participation, overall employment, part-time employment, informal employment, and unemployment rates, has been compared between European Union countries and Turkey. Based on the data, it has been observed that European Union countries largely achieve gender equality and display a successful outlook for women's employment in terms of decent work. However, in Turkey, women's employment under the concept of decent work has not reached the expected levels. Therefore, it is suggested that effective policies should be prioritized for gender equality efforts in Turkey.