Unpacking the Effects of Covid-19 on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Turkey

This paper investigates how the pandemic affected the labor market in Turkey, using a unique dataset collected via face-to-face interviews in September and October 2020. Relying on the retrospective nature of our dataset, we study a broad set of outcome variables to identify the most affected groups in labor market during the first wave of COVID-19. We contribute to the literature by providing evidence from a developing country which has long-lasting structural problems in its labor market such as gender divide in paid work and high informal employment. Our results indicate that, being a woman, having low education levels and having children at home were important risk factors in terms of labor market outcomes during the pandemic. At the intersection, women with children who did not have a high school degree are found be the most vulnerable group as they are more likely drop out of employment and to report a loss in income and in hours of paid work. Self-employment and informal employment are emerged as other risk factors contributing to the vulnerability in labor market. Our findings provide insightful evidence on discussing the effectiveness of job protection policies that cover only formal employment and disregards the gender imbalances in labor force in Turkey.