Retirees continue working informally in Turkey

ISTANBUL

CİHAN photo

One of every three retirees continues working in Turkey, raising the rate of informal employment in the country, recent research has revealed.

Around 28 percent, or 2 million, of 7.1 million people entitled to pension payments keep on working, according to the results of research conducted by Bahçeşehir University’s Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM).

Almost 18 percent of the retirees who remained in active employment in nonagricultural sectors are working informally, said the study prepared by analyzing the status of retirees using the Turkish Statistical Institute’s (TÜİK) 2010 Income and Living Conditions Survey.

“Given that retirement entitles workers to health insurance and pension payments, individuals do not seem to be concerned with working formally. Likewise, firms might prefer to employ retired people informally in order to reduce labor costs,” it said.

When looked on gender basis, the ratio of working women appears much lower compared to the ratio of working men, as 34.6 percent of men prefer staying in the workforce while only 7.5 percent of women continue to work.

“Conditional on receiving pension income, gender significantly affects the decision to re-enter to labor force,” the note said.

The research also underscores that while two-thirds of working male retirees are self-employed, the situation is quite different for women.

“The ratio of female retirees working as regular employers to total female working retirees is 40 percent; one-third of them are self-employed and one-fourth are unpaid family workers,” according to the study.