Abstract:

Microcredit, which is an approach that has been gradually increasing in recent years to ensure women's participation in the workforce, was an idea that initially served the purpose of supporting the poor and women living in rural areas, but over time, it paved the way for women to contribute to the economy by establishing their own businesses. Such that many women have started to take an active part in the workforce by using unsecured loans with affordable budgets thanks to microcredit applications. In this study, it is aimed to determine the effect of microcredits on women's labor force participation. To this end, econometric analysis was conducted to the labor force participation rate of women, the total amount of cash loans extended to micro-enterprises and the industrial production index variables using monthly data for the period of January 2014- November 2020. In the results of the Gregory-Hansen structural break cointegration test applied to examine the relationship between the variables, it is seen that the increase in both the amount of credit use and the economic growth increase the labor force participation rate of women. As a result, it can be said that supporting micro-businesses in Turkey with micro-credits, facilitating the opportunities to benefit from loans, and loan applications that contribute to the female workforce will increase women's participation in the workforce more.

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