Welfare without Rights: Neoliberal Family Policies, Islamic Charities, and Women’s Unpaid Labor in Turkey

This paper examines the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) neoliberal family-oriented social policies in Turkey, focusing on their intersection with gender politics and the role of women’s unpaid care labor. Since coming to power in 2002, the AKP has implemented a series of policies aimed at cash transfers, parental leave provisions, and childcare services, framed under a pro-natalist, family-centric agenda. These policies, which include financial incentives for new mothers and flexible work arrangements, reinforce traditional gender roles by positioning women as primary caregivers, thereby entrenching patriarchal norms within the family structure.

In addition to formal social policy, the AKP has institutionalized a charity regime by relying heavily on Islamic charities and civil society organizations to manage the welfare consequences of these neoliberal policies. Islamic NGOs, acting as intermediaries between the state and families, play a crucial role in sustaining this system, particularly in the provision of care for vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and disabled. Through cash-for-care programs, the government shifts the burden of caregiving onto women, offering symbolic financial support while reducing its institutional care services.

This paper critically explores the ways in which the AKP’s policies exploit women’s unpaid labor to fill the gaps left by reduced state welfare, reinforcing both neoliberal and patriarchal structures. Drawing on interviews with 33 Islamic charities and NGOs, a review of relevant social policy legislation, and discursive analysis of political rhetoric, this study argues that the AKP’s neoliberal family policies, which rely on both state and civil society actors, have systematically marginalized women by reinforcing traditional caregiving roles. These policies not only exacerbate women’s exclusion from the formal labor market but also deepen gender inequalities by perpetuating a care economy that is dependent on unpaid female labor.