The Labor Market, Income Losses and Household Production during COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey

by Selin Köksal in collaboration with Bahçeşehir University and Istanbul Technical University

The social distancing measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic have substantially constrained economic activities both from the demand and supply sides. Consequently, the economies went into severe economic recession, and household income losses followed suit. Subsequent to the preliminary data showcasing the severe economic impact of the pandemic, the afflicted countries have immediately begun to implement policies to protect firms and households. However, the usual data collection mechanisms fall short of providing accurate and timely data, and the data quality is compromised by the social distancing measures. The situation in Turkey is no different. 

The main objective of this project is to keep track of the labor market and to document the economic vulnerability of the households during the pandemic so as to inform policymaking. In order to ensure comparability, the questionnaire design of the survey draws on the Turkish Household Labor Force Survey and Survey of Living and Income Conditions. Our survey collects data on three axes. (1) The labor market conditions of individuals (2) The income losses of households (3) The changes in household production, division of labor and gender attitudes. 

This project numbered 120K577 received funding from Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).