ABSTRACT
This study aims to investigate the effect of the recently changing interest policy and individual and job-related characteristics on women’s wages. Based on the international and national labor force, wage, and poverty data, “working women” is one of the most disadvantaged groups in the Turkish labor market. In this sense, the relationship between women’s wages and various interest rates has been examined since the beginning of the new discourses on interest. Then, the effect of individual and job-related characteristics on women’s wages was analyzed for 2022, the year after the low-interest-rate policy started.
According to the 2022 Household Labor Force Statistics Micro Dataset provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), a significant correlation was identified between female wages and individual characteristics other than marital status, as well as the characteristics of the occupation. Women’s wages were influenced not only by individual and job-related characteristics but also by macroeconomic indicators. In Türkiye, during the period of 2022–2023, while the policy interest rate decreased and inflation showed an increasing trend, there was a nominal increase observed in the average and median wages of women, as well as in the poverty thresholds.
