A critical analysis of the pension system in Turkey from a gender equality perspective

SynopsisIn the last two decades Turkey has been reforming its pension system in line with the EU initiatives and the requirements of the neo-liberal model with the discourse of ensuring the proper functioning of the social security system and its fiscal sustainability. The neo-liberal emphasis on efficiency and sustainability of the system has been questioned for its hindering impacts on the main functions of a pension system, namely the provision of income security and welfare in old age, and income redistribution among different and vulnerable groups of population. It is against this background that, the alarmingly low female labor force participation (FLFP), significant size of informal employment with a high ratio of female workers, and the increasing domination of familial ideology at the societal and policymaking levels require the analysis of the reforms in terms of their impacts on gender inequality in the country. Therefore, this paper attempts a preliminary analysis of both public and private pension schemes from a gender equality perspective. The paper argues that since the pension system in Turkey is based on a male-breadwinner model where women are defined extensively as dependents, the reforms, by being blind to the existing form of gender inequality inherent to the system, vitiate the possible positive impacts of the reforms for women. It is this paper's contention that unless specific measurements that positively discriminate women and foster FLFP are taken, the gender blind approach of the current pension reform might have detrimental impacts on the well-being of women in the long run.