Women’s Empowerment in the Context of Household Composition: A Critical Approach to Measurement of Single-Parent Women’s Empowerment

Öz

The main objective of this study is to analyze how women's empowerment varies by household composition, focusing on single-parent and married women. This study also aims to discuss how empowerment can be measured, which components are critical when analyzing women's empowerment, especially according to the household composition variable, and to address limitations. The factors behind this issue are addressed from a feminist perspective using a mixed method approach. The 2018 TDHS data were used to answer the research question, the variable of women's empowerment was created through factor analysis using a polychoric correlation matrix, and multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the relationships between women's empowerment and explanatory variables. Following the quantitative analysis, in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 women to discuss their life experiences, coping strategies, and perceptions of empowerment and self-image. The quantitative analysis, in which married women with dependent children were taken as the reference category, revealed that the level of empowerment of single-parent women with dependent children was particularly high. Single-parent women's entry into the world of work, family support and critical inequalities have been addressed. For married women, the unequal sharing of household chores and limited autonomy in decision-making were identified as obstacles to their empowerment. On the other hand, it was also discussed that issues that empower women can actually create burdens. This study, which also emphasizes the limitations of the quantitative measurement of women's empowerment, provides a perspective for the creation of a deeper and feasible approach and surveys on this subject, too.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Measurement of women’s empowerment
• household composition
• single-parent women
• mixed-method approach.

HANEHALKI KOMPOZİSYONU BAĞLAMINDA KADINLARIN GÜÇLENMESİ: TEK EBEVEYN OLAN KADINLARIN GÜÇLENMESİNİN ÖLÇÜMÜNE ELEŞTİREL BİR YAKLAŞIM

Öz

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, tek ebeveyn ve evli kadınlara odaklanarak, kadınların güçlenmesinin hane halkı kompozisyonuna göre nasıl değiştiğini analiz etmektir. Öte yandan bu çalışma, güçlenmenin nasıl ölçülebileceğini, özellikle hane halkı kompozisyonu değişkenine göre kadınların güçlenmesini analiz ederken hangi bileşenlerin kritik olduğunu ve bileşenlerin sınırlılıklarını tartışmayı da amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma, bu konuları karma yöntem yaklaşımı kullanarak feminist perspektif ile ele almaktadır. Araştırma sorusunu yanıtlamak için 2018 TNSA verileri kullanılmış, kadınların güçlenmesi değişkeni polikorik korelasyon matrisi kullanılarak faktör analizi yoluyla oluşturulmuş ve kadınların güçlenmesi ile açıklayıcı değişkenler arasındaki ilişkileri belirlemek için multinomial lojistik regresyon kullanılmıştır. Nicel analizin ardından 18 kadınla derinlemesine görüşmeler yapılarak yaşam deneyimleri, baş etme stratejileri, güçlenme algıları ve benlik imajları tartışılmıştır. Evli ve bakmakla yükümlü olduğu çocuğu bulunan kadınların referans kategori olarak alındığı nicel analiz, tek ebeveyn olan ve bakmakla yükümlü olduğu çocuğu olan kadınların güçlenme düzeyinin yüksek olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Tek ebeveyn olan kadınların işgücü piyasasına girişleri, aile desteği ve kritik eşitsizlikleri de tartışılmıştır. Evli kadınlar için ev işlerinin eşitsiz paylaşımı ve karar alma süreçlerinde sınırlı özerklik, güçlenmelerinin önündeki engeller olarak tanımlanmıştır. Öte yandan, kadınları güçlendiren konuların aslında yük yaratabileceği de ele alınmıştır. Kadınların güçlenmesinin nicel ölçümünün sınırlılıklarına da vurgu yapan bu çalışma, daha derin ve uygulanabilir bir yaklaşımın oluşturulması ve bu konudaki araştırmalar için bir perspektif de sunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Kadının güçlenmesinin ölçümü
• hanehalkı kompozisyonu
• tek ebeveyn kadınlar

Kaynakça

1. Akadlı Ergöçmen, B. (1997). An overview of women’s status and fertility in Turkey. In M. E. Cosio-Zavala (Ed.), Women and families: Evolution of the status of women as factor and consequence of changes in family dynamics (pp. 79–105). Paris, CICRED.Alix Holt, Selected Writings of Alexandra Kollontai (Westport: Lawrence Hill & Co., 1977), 59.
2. Alloatti, M.N. (2019), “The Challenge of Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment: A Critical Analysis on the Importance of Subjective Measurement and Context”, Segal, M.T., Kelly, K. and Demos, V. (Ed.) Gender and Practice: Knowledge, Policy, Organizations (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 28), Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 41-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-212620190000028003
3. Alsop R, Heinsohn N, Somma A. (2005). Measuring empowerment: an analytic framework. In Power, Rights, and Poverty: Concepts and Connections, Alsop R (ed). World Bank: Washington DC.
4. Alves, Antônio & Fernandes, Antônio & Britto, Dalson & Figueiredo, Dalson & Rocha, Enivaldo & Da, Willber & Nascimento, Silva. (2020). Read this paper if you want to learn logistic regression. Revista de Sociologia e Política. 28. 1. 10.1590/1678- 987320287406en. Anderson, C. J., & Rutkowski, L. (2008). Multinomial Logistic Regression. In J. Osborne (Ed.), Best Practices in Quantitative Methods (pp. 390-409). SAGE Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412995627.d31
5. Bageant, E., Lentz, E., Narayanan, S., Jensen, N., & Lepariyo, W. (2024). How do women’s empowerment metrics measure up? A comparative analysis. Food Policy, 129, 102764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102764
6. Batliwala, S. (1994). The meaning of women’s empowerment: New concepts from the action. Population policies reconsidered: Health, empowerment and rights, 17.
7. Batliwala, S. (2007). Taking the power out of empowerment–an experiential account. Development in practice, 17(4-5), 557-565.
8. Bayissa, F. W., Smits, J., & Ruben, R. (2018). The multidimensional nature of women’s empowerment: Beyond the economic approach. Journal of International Development, 30(4), 661-690.

9. Boğaziçi University Social Policy Forum. (2011). Research project for the development of a cash transfer program for widowed women: Final report. (S. Özar, Project Coordinator; A. Buğra, Project Consultant; B. Yakut-Çakar, V. Yılmaz, A. Orhon, & P. Gümüş, Project Team). Boğaziçi University.
10. Bruin, J. (2006). newtest: Command to compute new test. UCLA: Statistical Consulting Group. Retrieved June 20, 2024, from https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/ stata/ado/analysis/
11. Calvès, A. (2009). Empowerment: The History of a Key Concept in Contemporary Development Discourse. Revue Tiers Monde, 200, 735-749. https://doi. org/10.3917/rtm.200.0735
12. Committee on Population. (2024). Consensus Study Report: Women’s empowerment, population dynamics, and socioeconomic development. National Academies Press.
13. Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139-167.
14. Desai, S., Chen, F., Reddy, S., & McLaughlin, A. (2022). Measuring Women’s Empowerment in the Global South, Annual Review of Sociology, 48(1), 507–527 https://doi.org/10.1146
15. Ewerling, F., Lynch, J. W., Victora, et al. (2017). The SWPER index for women’s empowerment in Africa: Development and validation of an index based on survey data. The Lancet Global Health. Published online July 26. https://doi. org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30292-9
16. Ewerling, F., Lynch, J. W., Victora, et al. (2020). SWPER Global: A survey-based women’s empowerment index expanded from Africa to all low- and middle- income countries. Journal of Global Health, 10(2), 020343. https://doi. org/10.7189/jogh.10.020434
17. Fraser, N., & Vogel, L. (2017). Crisis of Care? On the Social-Reproductive Contradictions of Contemporary Capitalism. In T. Bhattacharya (Ed.), Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression (pp. 21–36). Pluto Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1vz494j.6
18. Gündüz Hoşgör A. (2011).Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Kalkınma. Toplumsal Cinsiyet Sosyolojisi Ders Kitabı. s.50-71.
19. Gündüz Hoşgör, A. (2001).Convergence between theoretical perspectives in women- gender and development literature regarding women’s economic status in the Middle East
20. Him, M. S. (2020). A Paradox of Women’s Employment and Empowerment in Flexible Capitalism,” Fe Dergi 12, no. 1 (2020), 59-69.
21. Hochschild, A. R. (1997). The time bind: When work becomes home and home becomes work. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
22. Hooks, B. (1984). Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. South End Press.
23. ILO (2024). Modelled Estimates (ILOEST) database. Received from https://www.ilo. org/tr/resource/article/kucuk-cocugu-olan-kadinlarin-isgucune-katilim-orani- esas-calisma-cagindaki
24. Jain, Meghna. (2023). Women Empowerment: A Multidimensional Approach.Journal of Social Responsibility,Tourism and Hospitality. 36-42. 10.55529/ jwes.34.36.42.
25. Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464. doi:10.1111/1467-7660.00125
26. Kabeer, N. (2001) The Power to Choose, Bangladeshi Women and Labor Market Decisions in London and Dhaka. London, UK: Verso Press.
27. Kader, M. U. (2018). Stepping into a new struggle: low-SES divorced single mothers’ experiences in relation to family resources and social policies in Turkey. (Master’s thesis). Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
28. Kaiser, H. F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika, 39, 31–36. (6043 citations as of 4/1/2016).
29. Kandiyoti, D. (1988). Bargaining with patriarchy. Gender & Society, 2(3), 274-290. Kavas, S., and Gündüz-Hoşgör, A. (2013). The parenting practice of single mothersin Turkey: Challenges and strategies. Women’s Studies International Forum, 40, 56–67. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2013.05.004
30. Koç, İ. (2019). Formation of Single- Parent Families in the Process of Changing Family Structure in Turkey, Its Determinants and Welfare Status (2006-2016). Research on Family Structure in Türkiye-Advanced Statistical Analyses, 2018, Ankara: Republic of Turkey Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services, 36- 83.
31. Rathgeber, E. M. (1990). WID, WAD, and GAD: Trends in research and practice. The Journal of Developing Areas, 24(4), 489-502. Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry General Directorate of Social Assistance (ASAGEM) (2011), Research of Single Parent Families, Ankara: Makromedya.
32. Rowland-Serdar, B., & Schwartz-Shea, P. (1991). Empowering Women: Self, Autonomy, and Responsibility. The Western Political Quarterly, 44(3), 605–624. https://doi.org/10.2307/448671
33. Sancar, S., Toksöz, G., Yüksel-Kaptanoğlu, İ., Memiş-Parmaksız, E., Arslan, H., Kabadayı, A., Akyıldırım, O. & İnanç, B. (2021). Türkiye’de Toplumsal Cinsiyet Eşitliğini İzleme Raporu 2019-2020. CEİD Yayınları. (https://dspace.ceid.org.tr/ xmlui/handle/1/1792)
34. Shrestha, Noora. (2021). Factor Analysis as a Tool for Survey Analysis. American Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics. 9. 4-11. 10.12691/ajams-9-1-
35. T.C. Başbakanlık Aile ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Genel Müdürlüğü. (2006). Aile Yapısı Araştırması 2006. Anka- ra: Türkiye Istatistik Kurumu Matbaası.
36. Todaro MP, Smith SC (2003) Economic development.Parson Addison Wesley, Harlow Toksöz, G. (2011). Kalkınmada kadın emeği. Istanbul: Varlık Yayınları.
37. TURKSTAT (2022). Statistics on Family. Retrieved from http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/ PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=30726.
38. Upadhyay, U. D., Gipson, J. D., Withers, M., Lewis, S., Ciaraldi, E. J., Fraser, A., ... & Prata, N. (2014). Women’s empowerment and fertility: A review of the literature. Social Science & Medicine, 115, 111-120.
39. Walby, Sylvia (1990). Theorising Patriarchy Oxford, Blackwell.
40. World Bank (2022). Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment in Payment Projects: A Short Module to Complement Context-Specific Measures.