Türkiye plans child care and flexible work measures to boost employment

Türkiye's new economic blueprint puts child care and flexible work at the center of an effort to bring more people into employment. The 2027-2029 Medium-Term Program calls for expanded institutional child care, revised working days and more flexible employment models.

The program identifies several barriers keeping people out of the labor market, including skills gaps, care responsibilities, difficulties finding jobs and mismatches between workers and regional needs. It says people outside the labor market should receive support to move into registered and sustainable employment.

The government plans to strengthen career counseling, profile-based guidance and skills development. It also wants stronger links between social assistance and labor-market programs, along with improved reskilling, monitoring and job matching for people entering sectors facing labor shortages.

Parental leave rules would be revised to promote a more balanced sharing of caregiving. Institutional nurseries would expand through cooperation between central government, local authorities and the private sector, while workplace child care would support employment, particularly among women. Companies would be encouraged to offer partly or fully remote work to employees with child care responsibilities.

The blueprint also proposes early programs to prepare people for working life. School curricula would emphasize the value of work and the social importance of production from the beginning of formal education. New skills programs would be shaped by local labor demand and regional needs, while flexible-duration employment models would aim to improve work-life balance and productivity.