Women's illiteracy far outstrips rate for men in Turkey: Data

The literacy rate for women is five times lower than it is for men in Turkey, according to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜ?K).

Some 9.2 percent of Turkish women could not read or write in 2014, versus just 1.8 percent for men, for a combined average of 5.6 percent, TÜ?K said, adding that men were also three times more likely to have a job than women.

"While the proportion of high school and equivalent graduates in the 25-and-over age group was 19.1 percent, this proportion was 23.2 percent for males and 15 percent for females. Again, the proportion of total higher education graduates is 13.9 percent; this proportion is 16.2 percent for males and 11.7 percent for females," said TÜ?K. 

In this vein, the employment rate of the population aged 15 and above was 45.5 percent, but this rate was 64.8 percent for males and 26.7 percent for females in 2014, according to the data. The labor force participation rate of the population aged 15 and over was 50.5 percent - 71.3 percent for males and 30.3 percent for females in 2014. 

Women account for 49.8 percent of Turkey's population of around 78.7 million. 

Women workers are also paid lower than their male counterparts, the data showed. 

According to Income and Living Conditions Survey 2014 results, a working woman who graduated from higher education has an income 1.3 percent lower than that of a working man with the same education level. The education level in which there is the most income difference between genders is for people with less than a high school education, in which there is a difference of 1.8 percent, according to the data. 

Women spend many hours at home

Women spent four hours, 17 minutes engaging in household work and family...