Female labor force participation rate inTurkey is quite low by European Union (EU) and Organizationfor Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standards:it was 24.9 percent in 2006, compared to 66.1 percent inEU-27 and 60.8 percent in OECD countries. Moreover, it hasdeclined from 34.3 percent in 1988 to 24.9 percent in 2006.The purpose of this report is to shed light on factors thatdetermine women's participation in the labor market andthe reasons behind the observed trends over the 1988-2006periods. An important reason for the fall in femaleparticipation rate is urbanization. Turkey has witnessedhigh levels migration from rural to urban areas since 1988.The share of urban population rose from 51.1 percent in 1988to 63.3 percent in 2006. Despite the declining trend, thefemale labor force participation rate in rural areas isstill higher than that in urban areas, which has been morestable over time. In fact, the gender gap in participationrate in urban areas is much wider. Significant improvementshave taken in place in women's schooling in recentdecades in Turkey. The final interesting finding thatrequires further investigation is the low and stagnantparticipation rates of low skilled women - those with lessthan high school education. Over the 2000-2006 periods, theparticipation rate of low skilled women varied between 10.9and 11.8 percent. These are considerably lower ratescompared to that of low skilled men which, over the sametime period, varied between 67.1 and 68.8 percent.
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