Gender gap among farm workers narrows slowly

ANKARA

The difference between the daily and monthly wages of women and men in the agricultural sector in Turkey is being filled in at a slow pace, the latest official data has revealed.

The average daily wage of seasonal agricultural workers increased by 17.1 percent in 2019, whereas the monthly wage of permanent agricultural workers increased by 14.4 percent, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on Feb. 27.

In agricultural holdings, daily average wage of the seasonal agricultural workers reached 87 Turkish Liras ($15.3), while monthly wage of permanent agricultural workers increased to 2,422 liras ($426.4), it said.

The average exchange rate for U.S. dollars for Turkish Liras in 2019 was around 5.68.

The increase rate of the average daily wage of male agricultural workers was calculated as 14.9 percent. The pay rise of the women in the same category was 3 percent higher.

That brought the daily wage of men in the agricultural sector to 94 liras ($16.5), whereas women were still earning 15 liras ($2.6) less than that.

On a monthly basis, the wages of men working in the farms increased by 13.7 percent to an average of 2,486 liras ($437.6). The wages of women rose by 22.4 percent, reaching an average of 2,041 liras ($359.3).

Thus, a woman laborer in the agriculture sector was earning a monthly wage 445 liras ($78.3) less than a man in 2019. The gender-based monthly wage gap was 519 liras ($107.6) in 2018, according to the official data, when the average dollar/lira exchange rate is taken 4.81.
In agricultural holdings, the highest daily wage of seasonal agricultural workers for male workers was in the western province of Çanakkale with 141 liras ($24.8).

The women farm workers earned the highest wage in the Black Sea province of Giresun, where the world’s top-quality hazelnuts are grown, with 111 liras ($19.5).

The lowest wage in the farms was 61 liras ($10.7) for men and 50 liras ($8.8) for women in the southern province of Hatay, which lies on the border with Syria and houses nearly half a million Syrians.

When looking at monthly wage paid to the permanent agricultural workers, it was seen that northwestern Bursa province was the place where the highest monthly wage was paid to male workers with 3,253 liras ($572.7), and the Aegean province of İzmir was the place where the highest monthly wage was paid to female workers with 2,330 liras ($410.2).

The lowest average wage was 2,000 liras ($352.1) for male workers in the southern Kilis province, and 1,987 liras ($349.8) for female workers in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.