On the 13th of January, 2025, President Erdoğan announced in a meeting in Ankara the new label and initiative for 2025: the “Year of the Family.“ The initiative is aimed at preventing the dropping fertility and birth rates of individuals by financial encouragement and support, as recent data indicates major consequences to the economic and social status of Türkiye.
Declining Birth Rates in Türkiye
One of the main reasons for the initiative is recent data that demonstrate declining birth and fertility rates in Türkiye, despite President Erdoğan’s recommendation for young couples to have at least three children. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), the fertility rate was 2.38 in 2001, but drastically decreased in 2023, to just 1.51 children per family. This statistic is concerning because it is a number below the population replacement level. The population replacement level, defined as 2.1 children per woman in developed countries, is an important statistic that represents the level of fertility needed to keep populations constant. Birth rates have also fallen, from more than 1.2 million births per year in 2001 to just under 1 million in 2023.
Reasons cited for the decline include changing social and cultural norms regarding marriage and pregnancy, an increase in the number of women working, and growing living expenses. One of the causes of these factors is the fact that Türkiye is becoming more urbanized. As individuals settle into city lifestyles which have more opportunities, costs of living increase. Urban cities also emphasize smaller families, which opposes the Turkish social norms of having large families. Younger individuals are beginning to shift from these traditional norms as well, with many now viewing larger families as not essential, prioritizing other factors like personal and professional development.
Additionally, more women are finding better educational opportunities, seeking higher education more now than before. According to Statista, the percentage of women holding a university degree or higher in Türkiye was 19.6% in 2023, up from 6.5% in 2008. This brings benefits like gender and economic stability, however in terms of birth rates, does tend to slow and delay childbearing and marriage.
The “Year of the Family” Initiative
The Year of the Family initiative combines financial support and counselling to promote traditional family values and encourage younger couples to have more children. These supports include low cost child care, raised cash allowances for parents of newborns, interest-free financing and services like marriage counselling.
One of the main prospects of the initiative is the financial benefits it will bring. Although detailed information for each prospect hasn’t been provided yet, by providing services like better child facilities to families with newborns, as well as housing subsidies, couples are encouraged to have more children without the rising cost of living being a determining factor.Through counselling and increased government support, the initiative also aims to extend maternity and paternity leave durations to create more balance for working parents, with an emphasis on mothers. The current maternity leave is 16 weeks (8 weeks before giving birth and 8 weeks after), and the paternity leave is only 5 paid days. This support is especially necessary based on previously discussed trends regarding the tendency of younger generations to prioritize careers over families.
The main purpose of the Year of the Family initiatives is to combat the underlying issues created by declining birth rates. One of the major problems becoming increasingly apparent is the aging population. As the population of a country ages, this brings economic problems like slowing workforces as fewer younger individuals are starting to work, whilst trying to sustain an older population. Older individuals tend to also require more healthcare resources, such as hospitals and medical care, which strains these crucial systems.
Additionally, they put more strain on social security systems as more older individuals start to retire and require pensions. Fewer younger individuals working also reduces labor forces and productivity in workplaces, which can strain Türkiye’s standing in global markets whilst damaging its economy further. Lastly, the declining birth rates are said to be a long-standing threat to cultural values. Traditional values and respect within families are aspects that are highly valued in Turkish culture, and smaller families might weaken these principles.
Views
Although the initiatives for financial support and the encouragement of work-life balance structures sound beneficial, there are parts of the initiative that have been heavily criticized by citizens. One of the criticisms includes the amount of financial resources needed to fund such initiatives, money which instead could be used to support larger, ongoing socio-economic struggles. Canan Güllü, President of the Women’s Association of Türkiye, stated in an interview with DW Türkiye that 2025 should have been proclaimed as the “Year of Prevention of Femicide” rather than the “Year of the Family”. She criticized the decision as being the wrong priority considering issues like femicides, violence, unemployement, and poverty. Güllü emphasized that “Protecting women’s right to life should be the main priority in a nation where 421 women have been murdered.”
Additionally, many critics have pointed out that the Year of the Family program might exclude non-traditional family structures, especially those identifying within the LGBTQ+ community who are heavily condemned in the conventional principles. The government’s focus on conventional ideals has been brought up in the past for stigmatizing those who fall outside of the norm. Activists caution that laws strictly based on these ideals may deepen socioeconomic gaps and jeopardize initiatives for inclusivity and equality throughout the country.
As Türkiye begins this mission in 2025, there are both opportunities and challenges to keep in mind. Through financial support, counselling and more, there are ways to encourage young couples and close the gap that has been created regarding birth rates, yet the process is extensive. The success of this plan will depend on the executions of the policies and an effort to fix other underlying socio-economic problems of the nation beforehand.
Edited by: Derya Yener, Yağmur Ece Nisanoğlu