Straddling Two Continents: Social Policy and Welfare Politics in Turkey

Abstract

There has been an increasing academic interest in understanding the dynamics of social policy in the Middle East and developing a conceptual 'model' to account for the particular characteristics of welfare arrangements in the countries of the region. While part of this framework, Turkey represents an exceptional case due to the Europeanization processes the country is undergoing in various policy areas, including social policy. The influence of the European Union on the shape of Turkish social policy, as illustrated by the government's recent reforms in the labour market and social security domains, is hereby used to outline the position of Turkey vis-à-vis both the Southern European welfare regime and the Middle Eastern pattern. This article seeks to assess the dynamics of Turkish social policy in light of the country's political, and socio-economic dynamics, as well as the external influence exerted by the EU and international financial institutions. The aim is to examine Turkish welfare arrangements in a comparative manner and consider its suitability with reference to either of the two models. Looking at major trends in social security and the labour market, the article argues for a Turkish 'hybrid' model embodying the characteristics of both. Subject to EU explicit pressures for reform absent elsewhere in the Middle East, the data nevertheless show that Turkey has yet to make the qualitative leap forward that could place it firmly within the Southern European welfare group.

Reforms and Challenges: The Turkish Pension Regime Revisited

“…The article contributes to the welfare regime and pension literature by emphasizing the place of Turkey in the Southern European welfare regime through the cluster analysis. While some have examined the general characteristics of the social policies in Turkey (see Aybars and Tsarouhas 2010;Bug¬ ra and Keyder 2006;Gal 2010;Yakut-Cakar 2007), and some have focused on the economic impacts of the pension reforms (see Elveren 2008b;Gökbayrak 2010), I scrutinize the Turkish pension system using the welfare regime approach. Furthermore, I analyze how the Turkish pension system and its reforms affect intergenerational inequality.…”

Between Risks and Opportunities: Social Policies in Contemporary Turkey

“…In light of these studies, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries can be examined in four welfare regime clusters: the social democratic, liberal, continental European, and southern European. Researchers have also studied and conducted comparative research on other parts of the world, especially post-Soviet countries or eastern Europe (Deacon 2000 ), East Asia (Gough 2001;Walker and Wong 2005), and the Middle East (Jawad 2009;Aybars and Tsarouhas 2010), which often have diverse historical and institutional characteristics that affect welfare distribution. In welfare regime classifications, some comparative studies analyse Turkey under the southern European or Mediterranean welfare regime (Gough 1996;Bugra and Keyder 2006;Gal 2010;Aysan 2013), while others consider it to be part of the Middle Eastern group (Aybars and Tsarouhas 2010).…”

Social Policy in the EU and Turkey: the Limits of Europeanisation

“…Third, further changes in the eligibility criteria, minimum contribution and retirement age have been set. They include a long transition period, yet the end point is a drastic rise in retirement age, reaching 65 years for men and women by 2048 and rising to 68 years by 2075 (Aybars and Tsarouhas 2010). Fourth, and as will be discussed in more detail below, the changes also entail an attempt towards universal healthcare provision.…”

“…The new package of health laws is potentially driving the healthcare sector towards universalism. In deciding to opt for obligatory coverage for all under the age of 18, Turkey is following on the steps of other South European states who have introduced universalism in the recent past (Aybars and Tsarouhas 2010). Combined with the fact that Turkey suffers from high child poverty rates, this change is potentially transformative of healthcare delivery and services in the country, particularly as healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDP continues to grow, reaching 5.6 per cent in 2010 (European Commission 2011c).…”