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The changing family structure in Turkey was investigated

Istanbul Ticaret University and AREDA Survey carried out a study on the Family Structure in Turkey through a comprehensive survey, which broadly addressed the issue taking into consideration many of its dimensions, including marriage and marriage status, having children, elderly care, threats to the family, family values, attitudes towards working women, the economic status of the family, family law, domestic violence and divorce, the effect of communication tools on the family, and the family during the pandemic.

Prof. Dr. Ömer Çaha, who was in the academic team that prepared the report for the said study, summarized the study. He explained that the said study, which was entitled “The Changing Family Structure in Turkey”, led to findings that would be deemed as a rich resource by everyone interested in the family issue, the decision makers in particular. The study, which was conducted with a total of 2 thousand 400 people in 26 provinces, addressed Turkey’s family structure, the issue of having children, and the perspectives on financial issues. The interesting results of the study shed light on the structure of family in today’s Turkey.

FAMILY STRUCTURE IS WEAKENING IN TURKEY

Given that there are ongoing debates about the deterioration of the Turkish family structure in today’s world due to the effects of communication tools, consumption habits, and weakened values and relations, AREDA Survey carried out an important research.

According to the findings of the study, the rate of those who stated that the family structure is stronger, more or less, was found to be 35.6 percent, whereas the rate of those who stated that the family structure is weakened was found to be 37.1 percent, and lastly the rate of those who stated that the family has completely collapsed was found to be 11.8 percent. It was observed that it was mostly the participants with low educational and income status who stated that the family has completely collapsed.

The analysis of the answers given by the participants to the survey questions indicated that poverty, incompatibility of temperament, domestic violence and new communication tools were effective in the weakening of the family structure.

MOST OF THE PARTICIPANTS OPINED IN FAVOR OF ALIMONY

The issue of alimony was also brought up in the study. Consequentially, the rate of those who gave the answer of “The man should not pay alimony to the woman at all” to the question asked about the paying alimony to the woman by the man in case of divorce was found as 20.4%, whereas the rate of those who gave the answer of “The man should pay alimony to the woman” was found as 79.6%.

WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE DAUGHTERS

In the study, the participants were also asked the following question, that is “If you were to have only one child, would you like it to be a girl or a boy?”. The answers revealed that, if they could have only one child, 56.3% of the participants preferred to have a girl, whereas 43.7% of the participants preferred to have a boy.

Most of the participants who have stated to favor a girl over a boy if they were to have only one child were found to be of female gender. Accordingly, 68.8% of the female participants indicated they would prefer a girl instead of a boy, were they to have only one child, as compared to only 43.7% of the male participants. Additionally, it was determined that the elderly generations preferred to have a daughter over a son more than the younger generations, and that the university graduates were also found to prefer to have a daughter over a son, more than the ones with lower educational statuses. The rate of the ones who were found to prefer a daughter over a son was 32.9% among those who never had any formal education, which was found to have increased to 61.8% when it comes to university graduates.

RELATIVES ARE SEEN AS A LAST RESORT WHEN IT COMES TO MONETARY NEEDS

The issues of family solidarity and whether they request for help were also discussed in the study. 70.8% of the participants responded to the question of “When do you resort to a first-degree family member for help?” with the answer of “When I am in trouble” as compared to 59.6% of the participants, who responded to the same question with the answer of “when I need money”.

In the study, the participants were also asked about from whom they get help in case of financial need. Accordingly, 59.6% of the participants responded to the question of “Who do you turn to first when you need money?”, having stated that they would get help from their first degree family members in case of financial need. Additionally, 20.5% of the participants stated that they would get help from banks, 10% of the participants stated that they would get help from their friends, 2.3% of the participants stated that they would get help from the state, and 0.7% of the participants stated that they would get help from their relatives. The results of the study revealed that the tendency to resort to a family member in difficult situations decreased with the increase in educational level, and in parallel that the university graduates tended to resort more to the state or the banks.

HOW WAS THE STUDY CONDUCTED?

The survey used to collect the research data was conducted by AREDA Survey between 3-13 May 2021 with a total of 2400 people in 26 provinces selected by CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) method according to the NUTS-2 statistical zoning system.

The collected research data were analyzed by weighing the data on the basis of the current political party preferences, as well as of the data provided by Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI) on gender, age and educational level. Interpretation of the data was based on cross-analyses conducted over variables such as gender, age, educational level, marital status and economic status of the family, as well as frequency distributions.