Skip to content
Sign inGet started free
Photo: Kadir Celep / Unsplash · Türkiye

Market watch · 42

One in six young Turkish women wants work she lacks

Neither working nor studying, and up from 12.8% in 2021, while among young men the share fell to 10.7%.

A young woman in Türkiye who is not working and not studying is less likely than four years ago to say she does not want a job. Here is how many now say they do, why most of them are not counted as unemployed, how Türkiye compares with 32 other countries, and what it means if you are hiring or looking for work there.

By The Market Desk · · 7 min read · Share

16.5%of women aged 15 to 29 in Türkiye want work while neither employed nor studying, 2025
10.7%of men the same age, the same year
12.8%of young women in 2021, the first year of the series

Young Turkish women who want work and have none: the highest share since the series began in 2021

202112.8
202212.2
202312.8
202414.7
202516.5
Women aged 15 to 29 neither in employment nor in education or training who would like to work, Türkiye, 2021 to 2025, per cent of all women that age. Eurostat flags a break in 2021, the first year shown. Eurostat, edat_lfse_20, read 22 October 2026.

Wanting work, without it

In Türkiye in 2025, 16.5% of women aged 15 to 29 were neither employed nor in education or training and said they would like to work. In 2021, the first year of the series, it was 12.8%.

Among men of the same age, the share fell from 12.2% to 10.7%. In 2021 the two were close; in 2025 young women were 5.8 points above young men.

Most of the rise is among women the survey counts as inactive. The unemployed made up 6.3% of young women in 2021 and 5.6% in 2025; the inactive who would like to work went from 6.5% to 10.9%.

Provenance: Source
Women aged 15 to 29 neither in employment nor in education or training, Türkiye, 2021 and 2025, per cent of all women that age, and the change in percentage points. The inactive who would like to work are computed by the desk as the difference between the first two rows. Eurostat, edat_lfse_20.
Young women20212025Change
Would like to work12.816.5+3.7
of whom unemployed6.35.6-0.7
of whom inactive6.510.9+4.4
Would not like to work26.720.3-6.4
All neither working nor studying39.436.8-2.6

Wanting work is not looking for it

The share is of every woman aged 15 to 29 in Türkiye, students and workers included. It is not a share of those without a job.

Would like to work is what the person says. The unemployed are inside it: they looked for work and could start. The others are inactive, whether they have not searched or could not start soon.

Someone in a course of any kind is not counted. Neither working nor studying means no job and no education or training in the four weeks before the interview.

Provenance: SourceWhat this counts
  1. THE DENOMINATOR: every woman aged 15 to 29 in Türkiye, those in work and in school included. 16.5% is a share of all of them, not of those without a job.
  2. NEITHER WORKING NOR STUDYING: not employed, and in no education or training, formal or not, in the four weeks before the interview.
  3. WOULD LIKE TO WORK: what the person says. It includes the unemployed, who looked for work and could start within two weeks; the others are inactive, and are not counted as unemployed.

So 16.5% does not say that one young woman in six is unemployed: it says that one in six was outside work and study and said she would like a job, and that only 5.6 points of that share were looking for one in the survey’s sense.

One denominator, one question asked of each person and one line between wanting work and looking for it, and a reading that forgets any of them says what the source does not.

Fewer outside work and study, more who want a job

The share of young Turkish women neither working nor studying fell from 39.4% in 2021 to 36.8% in 2025. Inside it, the balance moved.

Those who said they would not like to work fell from 26.7% to 20.3% of young women; those who would rose from 12.8% to 16.5%. The rise came in the last two years: 12.8% in 2023, 14.7% in 2024.

Among women aged 25 to 29 alone, the share who want work went from 16.6% to 21.4%, about one in five.

Provenance: Source
Women and men aged 15 to 29 neither in employment nor in education or training, Türkiye, 2021 to 2025, per cent of everyone that age and sex. Eurostat flags a break in 2021. Eurostat, edat_lfse_20.
YearWomen, want workWomen, do notWomen, allMen, want work
2021 (break)12.826.739.412.2
202212.226.038.211.1
202312.823.536.310.3
202414.721.736.410.4
202516.520.336.810.7

Against 32 other countries

Of the 33 countries in Eurostat’s table, Türkiye has the highest share of young women who want work while neither employed nor studying. Bosnia and Herzegovina follows with 12.4%, North Macedonia with 11.5%; the EU average is 6.7%.

Between 2021 and 2025 the share fell in 22 of the 33 countries and rose in 11, Türkiye among them. Across the EU it went from 7.8% to 6.7%.

Türkiye also has the widest gap between young women and young men, 5.8 points. In most countries in the table, the share is higher for men.

Provenance: Source
Women aged 15 to 29 neither in employment nor in education or training who would like to work, per cent of all women that age, the eight highest of the 33 countries in the table and the EU average, with men in 2025. Eurostat flags France’s 2025 figure as defined differently. Eurostat, edat_lfse_20.
CountryWomen 2025Women 2021Men 2025
Türkiye16.512.810.7
Bosnia and Herzegovina12.416.311.4
North Macedonia11.516.318.0
Italy9.515.79.9
Greece8.513.28.5
France8.48.29.4
Serbia8.310.510.7
Austria7.66.98.4
European Union6.77.87.2

What these figures do not say

They do not say why. Nothing here measures care, family, schooling, the economy or any policy, and no reason is given for the rise.

They are shares, not people, and they describe Türkiye as a whole, not any province or city.

They describe 2021 to 2025, and none of this is a forecast.

What this means for you

If you are hiring in Türkiye

In 2025, 16.5% of women aged 15 to 29 in Türkiye said they would like to work while neither employed nor studying, and only 5.6 points of that share looked for work in the survey’s sense. A posting that reaches only active jobseekers misses most of them: ask for referrals, post where people who are not searching will see it, and say plainly what the role needs.

If you are a young woman looking for work in Türkiye

If you want a job but have not looked for one recently, the survey counts you among the 16.5% of women aged 15 to 29 who would like to work, not among the unemployed. You are in a larger group than four years ago, when it was 12.8%. Applying is what moves you from wanting work to being in the market for it.

How this was counted

Method

  1. One table. Eurostat, edat_lfse_20 (young people neither in employment nor in education and training, by sex, age and labour status), from the EU labour force survey, updated on 10 September 2026 and read through Eurostat’s API on 22 October 2026 at 18:45 (+01:00). Türkiye’s figures come from TurkStat’s labour force survey.
  2. THE MEASURE. The share of everyone of a given age and sex who is neither employed nor in education or training, split by whether the person would like to work. Those who would like to work include the unemployed. The inactive who would like to work are computed here as the difference between the two published shares, from rounded figures, so they may be off by 0.1.
  3. THE AGES. Women and men aged 15 to 29, and women aged 25 to 29 for one figure. Annual averages.
  4. THE BREAK. Eurostat flags a break in 2021 for every country, when a new regulation changed the survey. Nothing before 2021 is compared.
  5. LIMITS. The table gives shares, not counts, and no margin of error. France’s and Spain’s 2025 figures are flagged as defined differently, Slovenia’s as less reliable and Denmark’s as a break. Nothing here names a cause, covers a province or forecasts.
What the data establishes, and what it does not

What the data establishes

  • In Türkiye, 16.5% of women aged 15 to 29 were neither employed nor in education or training and would have liked to work in 2025, against 12.8% in 2021.
  • Among young men the share fell from 12.2% to 10.7%.
  • Of the 33 countries in the table, Türkiye’s share for young women is the highest; the EU average is 6.7%.
  • The share of young women outside work and study who would not like to work fell from 26.7% to 20.3%.

What it does not

  • That one young woman in six is unemployed: only 5.6 points of the 16.5% looked for work in the survey’s sense.
  • Why the share rose: no cause, including care, family, schooling or the economy, is measured.
  • How many women are concerned: the figures are shares, not counts.
  • Anything about any province or city, or how Türkiye compares beyond the 33 countries in the table.
  • What happens after 2025: nothing here is a forecast.
Primary sources

Primary sources

BabZituna scores every job against your profile on six real dimensions, and publishes what it can and cannot measure. See the live market.

The markets in this piece, live

Earlier editions