The Wearing of the Headscarf & Labor Market Outcomes for Women in Turkey

• Historically, female labor force participation (FLFP) rate has been very low in Turkey. As the majority of women in Turkey wear headscarves, this study examines if the ban on the religious garb contributed to the low FLFP rate. The study links the wearing of headscarves to labor market outcomes for women using the individual level data from 2 rounds of the National Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) conducted in 2003 and 2008, and 2 surveys conducted by the Konda Research Company in 2007 and 2011. After controlling other religious behaviors and values, it is demonstrated that urban women who wear headscarves are 3.6% to 8.5% less likely to be employed while the rate increases to between 17% to 28.2% among women with a university degree. This suggests that the impact of the headscarf ban was more damaging among women with degrees