Abstract
This chapter provides a demographic look at both changing trends in family forms and attitudes towards marriage and family in Turkey, a country located between Europe and Asia with a predominantly Islamic population. While Turkish society is influenced by both European and Middle-Eastern values, 99% of Turkish individuals identify as Muslim. Although analyses on changes in family forms in Western societies have received significant attention in the past, demographic study of marriage and family in predominantly Muslim countries still remains an understudied phenomenon. Drawing from the demographic transition theory, this chapter explores changes in Turkish family forms. Moreover, it examines how attitudes toward marriage and family have been changing over time.
We first introduce Turkey’s progress in the demographic transition, demonstrating its fertility and mortality changes over time. We then examine the state policies that govern the population through the institution of family, and provide an extended discussion on three consecutive envisionings of the ideal Turkish family. These include the national/modern family, the happy family, and the sacred family. We find that these three governmental envisionings have been extensively influencing Turkish family life, and thus creating implications for modernization attempts, labor market regulation, and women’s reproductive rights in Turkey. Drawing from the Turkish Statistical Institute and the World Values Survey, we explore the prevalence of age at first marriage as well as marriage and divorce rate over time. We also inquire about attitudes toward issues related to family and marriage, such as tolerance toward divorce, sex before marriage, homosexuality, and cohabiting couples.
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Engin, C., Hürman, H., Harvey, K. (2020). Marriage and Family in Turkey: Trends and Attitudes. In: Farris, D.N., Bourque, A.J.J. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Marriage and the Family. International Handbooks of Population, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35079-6_8
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