125 THOUSAND CHILD WORKERS OF AGE 6 to 14 ARE NOT ENROLLED, 30 THOUSAND NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL

Burak Darbaz and Gökçe Uysal-Kolaşin

From 1994 to 2006, the fraction of working children of age 6 to 14 dropped from 8.5 percent to 2.6 percent in Turkey. Yet, given that the population is relatively young in Turkey, 2.6 percent implies that 320 thousand children work. 70 thousand out of 207 thousand working boys and 55 thousand out of 113 thousand working girls are not enrolled. 30 thousand out of 125 thousand children who work and who are not enrolled, never went to school. 204 thousand children who work are employed as unpaid family workers and 109 thousand children who work are employed as regular or casual paid employees. 50 percent of boys and 72 percent of girls who work are employed in agricultural fields. The majority of the remaining children who work are employed in institutional workplaces.

The majority of these children will be 25 to 35 years old in 2030; the future looks very bleak. In order to achieve long-term growth, Turkey has to invest in its human capital. It is crucial to (re)integrate these children into the educational system, especially since they are at an age where education is still compulsory.

doc. ResearchBrief033

pdf. ResearchBrief033