Associate Professor Emel Memiş Parmaksiz, Ankara University, Türkiye and Assistant Professor Ozge Izdes Terkoglu, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa for

 “Elderly Care in a Non-caring Economy: How Far is a Caring Society” 

Asso. Prof. Parmaksiz and Asst. Prof. Terkoglu’s research is very original in its decolonization aspects by focusing on the elderly as a vulnerable, overlooked population, with a particular focus on unpaid elder care. Their innovative method of combining time use and socioeconomic conditions data as a means of criticizing conservative discourse and its influence on government a frame for its investigation proved a very strong aspect with our panel of expert judges. Their research gives non-mainstream attention to care, unpaid work, and informal health systems in contrast to a mainstream emphasis on market-based care systems, all of which are very consistent with the goals of the prize in highlighting diverse voices from marginalized groups.

What winning the prize means to our recipients—

“We were very touched and honored to learn that we have won the Routledge Award for Inclusive Economy. Above all, it is very encouraging and empowering to hear that our research has been awarded such a meaningful award. We received the news at a time when we needed solidarity the most in our struggle for decolonization in the field of economy on the one hand, but also solidarity for equality in all aspects of life on the other.  We are full of mixed feelings. Just two weeks ago, one of the biggest earthquake disasters occurred in Turkey and Syria. We witness so much pain, suffering and loss around and near us…. Today, there could not be a more meaningful award in terms of both its purpose and content. We all know that all these devastating effects of disasters are human-made and that the main problem is the lack of diversity and inclusion that leads to deep inequalities and discrimination. At a time when the importance of diversity and inclusion has never been more important, it is invaluable to us to conduct and value research that combats discrimination, elitism and marginalization, just as the purpose of the award was explained.”

What the research means to our recipients—

“Our research proposal titled ‘Elderly Care in a Non-caring Economy: How Far is a Caring Society?’ aims to address the gendered consequences of the elderly care gap and care provided by families by taking into account the socioeconomic differences of elderly care providers. We are passionate about our research issue and believe that the topic covers highly relevant socio-economic issues that are critical to promoting a more caring and solidarity-oriented policy. We are living in an ageing society with growing care needs that are neglected. However, this neglect comes with its costs. It leaves a significant portion of the elderly with care needs unmet and levies a heavy burden on women who are most commonly unpaid care providers of families. We all observe that the impact of the economic burden of the absence of affordable services on households varies with socio-economic differences. We are highly motivated by the idea of contributing to the literature by generating a new data source on Turkey that combines time use and socioeconomic conditions data. Therefore, seeing our belief in the importance of the issue shared with many, including the members of the Routledge Included Awards Committee, motivates us to continue to do more work on these issues critical to promoting a more caring and solidarity-driven policy. We also find the idea of contributing to the studies that acknowledge the interconnectedness of life; either be in monetized or in non-monetized spheres of the economy.  Our research is based on a combined time-use data and socio-economic conditions dataset to address gender-based and socio-economic inequalities, which we believe help explore the issues to be addressed more urgently today.”

Meet Associate Professor Emel Memiş Parmaksiz

Assoc. Prof. Emel Memiş is a faculty member of Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences Department of Economics and an executive board member of CEID (Gender Equality and Monitoring Association). She is engaged in studies in gender and economy. In 2007 she participated in the Gender Equality and Economics Programme at Levy Economics Institute as a researcher contributing to studies in unpaid labor, poverty, and inequality. She has been involved with the International Working Group on Gender, Macroeconomics, and International Economics (GEM-IWG) and the Initiative for Women’s Labor and Employment (KEIG) in Turkey, contributing both as a researcher and as an activist on women’s labor and employment issues in Turkey. She has been serving the journal Mülkiye Dergisi in Turkey as the editor, for the journal Feminist Economics as an associate editor and she is a member of the editorial advisory board of Oxford Development Studies Journal.

Meet Assistant Professor Ozge Izdes Terkoglu

Ozge Izdes holds B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in economics from Istanbul University in Turkey and received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Utah, the USA. Ozge Izdes currently works at İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa as an Assistant Professor of Economics. She is also an affiliated instructor in the Gender Studies program of the Women’s Studies Center at Istanbul University. Her areas of specialization are macroeconomics, gender and economic development, and feminist economics. Her publications largely focus on the economic crisis and gendered labor implications, employment-oriented policies, decent employment, and care economics. She is an active member of KEIG, KEFA, URPE, IATUR, and IAFFE networks, which focus on gender equality and economics.