Familialization of care arrangements in Turkey: questioning the social inclusion of ‘the invisible’

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the dynamics of care arrangements for children, persons with disabilities (PWD), and the elderly, who constitute the group of ‘the invisible’ in social policy in Turkey. The invisibility of these three groups stems from their systematic, consistent and diffuse exclusion from the social, political and economic life of the country. The context of social inclusion policies for these groups in Turkey presents a challenge to assess their implications in three important respects: (I) the lack of data concerning these groups, (II) the lack of policy tools and instruments assessing the existing assistance and services for these groups, to allow comparative evaluations, and (III) general orientation of care services and policies towards families, therefore not targeting the direct correspondents of these policies. This paper outlines existing care policies for children, PWD and the elderly in Turkey, with a view to assessing their implications for promoting social inclusion, in two different aspects. While social inclusion literature is predominantly focused on the implication of social policies for the care-receivers, this paper examines the social inclusion implications of care policies also for those who are traditionally assigned the role of caregiver, namely, women. The latter dimension is a consequence of the increasing familialization of care policies in Turkey, which leads to the exclusion of women from economic and social life, thus reproducing the invisibility of these three groups while sustaining an overarching invisibility, that of women.