Barriers for women's employment in Bolu province

Female labor force participation is an important factor of economic growth and social development. High female labor force provides more productivty, high economic growth and positive social changes. However men are more likely to participate in labor force than women in developing countries. The main reasons of low female labor force participation are economic fluctuations, social norms and culture, such as influencing marriage, fertility, and women's role inside the household, childcare and nursing of old person at home, education level of society and institutional settings. Female labor force participation is so low in Turkey comparing to OECD countries. The aim of this study is to investigate the main reasons of the low FLFP for Bolu province. The study is based on a questionnaire survey with 400 voluntary unemployed women. Factor analysis is used for the empirical methodology. The results of the factor analysis indicate that the main factor of female unemployment is employment opportunities. The other factors are the demand of employers, self- insufficiency, self respect, lack of competence, negative conditions, motivation for job-seeking, social norms, exogenous problems and circumtances of labor markets.