Socio-economic investigation of women labor force in Turkey: An application on sub regions (Level 2)

Throughout the history, women took place in the job market under different status mostly without any significant economic gain. The Industrial Revolution had a great impact on female labor force that women started to work for a wage. Women contributed to the business life and the economic growth. Taking an active role in the job market, women also undertook new responsibilities in addition to their family life. Along with the business life, the family structure has changed globally and definitely in Turkey. The traditional family institution has shrunk in size and the divorce rates have significantly risen so far. The increasing number of divorces is affecting the family institution which may considered as the most important building blocks of the society. The main purpose of this study is to investigate of the effect of women work force increases on the divorce rates in Turkey. The study includes a set various social and economic factors affecting the female labor force participation and divorce rates such as women employment and unemployment, female suicide count, number of birth the educational attainments, gross domestic product per person at the sub-regional level in Turkey. The empirical analysis consists of Granger causality analysis as well as panel regression estimation. The relationship between female labor and divorce rates are examined in a number of regression estimations by separately using unemployment, employment and labor force participation rates for women in the regression analysis. The results of this study suggest that the number of birth and marriages have significant effects on the number of divorces for individuals whose education level is less than high school. The findings also indicate that there is a causal link between women workforce and divorces as well as between employment rates and divorces. However, the causal relationship is not detected between the unemployment rates, women population, the number of births and suicides and divorce rates. The findings reveal that policy makers should consider effective strategies for the female labor force participation which supports family union to reduce the cost of divorces. Key Words: Women Workforce, Divorce, Family, Education, Suicide, Birth and Granger Causality Analysis