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UNREGISTERED
EMPLOYMENT
Edited By
Selçuk KOÇ
Kocaeli University, Kocaeli/Turkey
Ayhan ORHAN
Kocaeli University, Kocaeli/Turkey
Mehmet Çağrı GÖZEN
Kocaeli University, Kocaeli/Turkey
Ecoei No: 5
Economic Issues (Edited by: Selçuk KOÇ, Erhan ÖRUÇ, Aslıhan ANLAR)
IJOPEC Publication www.ijopec.co.uk
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London, London, E14 8RJ, Phone: (+44) 73 875 2361 (UK)
UNITED KINGDOM (+90) 488 217 4007 (Turkey)
First Edition, June 2017
IJOPEC Publication, London
IJOPEC Publication No: 2017/4
ISBN: 978-1-9997035-5-4
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permission. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the text, illustrations or advertisements. The opinions
expressed in these chapters are not necessarily those of the editors or publisher.
A catalogue record for this book is available from Nielsen Book Data, British Library and Google Books.
The publishing responsibilities of the chapters in this book belong to the authors.
Printed in Turkey.
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Unregistered Employment (Edited by: Selçuk KOÇ, Ayhan ORHAN, Mehmet Çağrı GÖZEN)
CONTENTS
List of Contributers
6
Introduction
10
Mehmet Şaban UCARI, Selçuk KOÇ (A General Overview on Regional Informal Employment)
13
Bilge ÖNAL, Zülküf ÇEVİK (Does Unregistered Employment Really Reduce the Labour Costs? A Study in Turkey)
21
Eda YALÇIN KAYACAN, Özlem KIREN GÜRLER, Şenay ÜÇDOĞRUK BIRECIKLI (The Role of Young Employment on the Informal
Economy)
36
Orhan Erem ATESAGAOGLU, Ceyhun ELGİN, Oguz OZTUNALİ (The Growth Performance of the Turkish Economy: The Role of Informal
Sector)
52
Melike E. BİLDİRİCİ, Fulya ÖZAKSOY (Analyzing Child Labor in Turkey)
64
Farrash RABAB, Shata SAMEERA (The Impact of Internship on Youth Employment: Case University of Business and Technology, Saudi
Arabia)
74
Züleyha YILMAZ (Employment Profile of Business School Graduates: A Study at Ordu University)
88
Ferda Esin GÜLEL, Halil TUNCA (Investigation of Youth Unemployment In Turkey With Spatial Interaction)
108
Gülten DURSUN, Habibou YAKITE (Youth Unemployment Hysteresıs in the Cemac Region: Evidences From Suradf and Panel Data Analysis
with Multiple Structural Breaks Under Cross-Sectional Dependence)
119
Eylül KABAKÇI GÜNAY (Effects of Part-Time Working on Female Labor Force Participation and Population Growth Rate: The Example of
Turkey)
131
Taner GÜNEY (Youth Employment And Sustaınable Development)
148
Ayhan GÖRMÜŞ (The Micro Determinants of Informal Youth Employment in Turkey)
157
Yılmaz BAYAR, Levent AYTEMİZ (Financial Development and Shadow Economy in Turkey)
170
Burcu TÜRKCAN, Utku AKSEKİ (The Determinants of Regional Unemployment in Turkey: A Spatial Panel Data Analysis)
176
Ruhal SAMANLI (The Role of Social Investments in Reducing Unemployment and Poverty)
181
Erhan ÖRUÇ (The Effects of The Minimum Wage on Youth (Un)employment in OECD Countries)
188
Unregistered Employment (Edited by: Selçuk KOÇ, Ayhan ORHAN, Mehmet Çağrı GÖZEN)
181
15
The Role of Social
Investments in Reducing
Unemployment and
Poverty
Ruhal SAMANLI
Abstract
The aim of this study is reduce to unemployment and poverty through social investments. While preparing the work, the
literature was searched and the sources were scanned. The study was formed by data collection methods in qualitative
researches. It was emphasized that social investments can be considered as a solution to reduce unemployment and
poverty while starting to work. Actually, at the end of the study, the importance and role of social investments could be
expressed clearly. It is stated that social investments are important for employability in the labor force market
Labour markets have deeply affected from the winds of changes along with the transformation of universal economic
system. The consequences of these changes experienced have brought about unemployment first and later poverty. The
presence of working poverty is thought to be the different dimension of the transformation of universal economic
system. The existence of unemployment, poverty, and working poverty entails expenses from social policy
implementations to the social investment programs. In other words, social investments are regarded to be solution for
the eradication of unemployment, poverty, and working poverty. Therefore, some sorts of programs are developed
within the framework of social investment programs and employment strategies are formed on the basis of developed
social investment programs.
Keywords: Unemployment, Poverty, Social Investment
Introduction
With the replacement of agriculture-based production relations with new systems, changes were observed in production
cost and efficiency. Consequently, the changes in labor market have facilitated the widespread applications of new
global economic system. This system is referred to as globalization. New economic system is correlated with the ever
increasing amount of technical and technological advancements and the mental labor force as a substitute for physical
labor force. Therefore, individuals with poor qualifications, who only have physical labor value cannot be involved in
Ruhal SAMANLI (The Role of Social Investments in Reducing Unemployment and Poverty)
182
the global economic system. These people are alienated from the system through social and economic exclusion and as
a result, they are deprived of an income necessary for living and an honorable life.
Dishonorable living conditions reveal out poverty. While people who need to work are deemed to be poor in a sense,
people who cannot work despite the fact that they have to are directly described to be poor. Poverty of people cause
personal problems and lead to social problems, as well. Individuals described as poor are unable to fulfill their own
needs and they fail to contribute to the social structure. The situation might change depending on the development level
of the states.
Developed states offer job opportunities for the unemployed and support individuals who experience difficulties in
surviving. On the other hand, being poor is deemed to be a destiny in underdeveloped countries. A state’s efforts to
improve the lives of its citizens raise the issue of social policy practices. At this point, social investments among the
social policy practices come to the forefront. Social investments intend to improve personal competency. Poor people
needle to improve their personal competencies in order to survive. Yet, an individual who cannot even fulfill one’s vital
needs cannot be expected to make investments for the improvement of their competencies. Therefore, states will
increase the amount of expenses on social investments, which are among the social policy practices and thus, personal
development of individuals will be achieved. In this way, individuals can find jobs more easily and can recover from
poverty. In order to make sure that every educated and knowledgeable individual finds a job, the states may need to
review the structure of labor force and to improve employment capacities depending on the needs of the labor market.
Then, social investments among the social policy practices can be planned in parallel with the needs of the market.
Thus, it would be easier for the individuals who would become knowledgeable and experienced to have an honorable
job. The things done for the interests of individuals are indirect investments for the benefits of the society, indeed. It is
necessary for peaceful and prosperous societies to create individuals who work, earn, who can fulfill their needs with
their earnings and who are economically independent, who are in high spirits and who have things to do. In order to
create prosperous societies through training self-sufficient individuals, employment plans shall be made by taking the
needs of the labor market into consideration. If employment plans is considered to be the independent variable, the
dependent variable can be considered to be the vocational training and human resource development activities carried
out within the scope of the social investment programs which are implemented by taking the needs of the labor market
into consideration. In other words, the structure of the labor force will be taken into consideration for the arrangement
of the education system and as a component of social investment, education will be considered in parallel with the
employment strategies. Human resource development activities, which are the tools for social investment programs and
active employment policies, are believed to take responsibility in the prevention of poverty.
Poverty and Unemployment Prevention Programs
There are programs designed to prevent the exploitation of the global economic structure. These programs are generated
by states that wish to improve the welfare of their citizens and to avoid economic problems caused by change in
economic systems. These national programs are called social investments. With social investments, the quality of life
and family incomes will be increased while welfare is being improved. Social investments take into account both people
who are left unemployed by cruel economic systems and people who have difficulty managing their lives despite having
jobs. In fact, social investments can be expressed as an umbrella concept because these programs are intended to
rehabilitate all people in disadvantageous situations and excluded by the system. Such people can damage social
structures indirectly because social problems are widespread in the environments where social investments are lacking.
Social investments should not be considered to be related only to economic structures. But if we begin to think from the
individual perspective, people must first be self-sufficient. It is possible that people who do not work experience
problems because of the significance of work to people and societies. In this respect, social investments cover
principally those people who are involved or will be involved in economic systems (Harrison, 2006: 8).
With the aim of increasing employment and worker wages, social investments related to education need to be increased.
Despite cruel economic structures, there are many reasons for people to take part in working life. Work allows people to
achieve self-actualization, gain prestige and have a sense of belonging. It also provides income for health, education,
transportation, shelter, heat, food, clothing and many other needs. The ability to work is indispensable to people’s lives
and depends on their self-enhancement. Self-enhancing, self-sufficient and conscious people can help societies to attain
high welfare levels.
The ongoing relationship between consumption and work forces people to work. The only and most effective way to get
involved in working life is to be well-supported so as to compete with other people who are considered rivals. Due to
the dissemination of consumption and production, the global economic system causes people to buy things whether they
need them or not and to spend more than their income. In addition to the difficulty of being able to take part in working
life, with low wage levels, even the employed face challenges. Low incomes and high consumption further increase
their poverty. Indeed, there is cutthroat competition in the current economic system. Individuals compete with other
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183
individuals, and states compete with other states. This cruel competition is shaped by the advent of technological
developments because technology increases competition for employment, making it even more difficult to find jobs
(Lelkes&Gasior, 2008: 3-15).
As a result of rapid changes in technical developments, globalization has a positive effect on developed people in
developed nations. On the other hand, globalization has increased injustice, unemployment, inequality and poverty for
the people of underdeveloped and developing nations. Therefore, Asia, as a main part, Eastern Europe, Latin America,
the Caribbean, Central Asia, and North Africa are regions where inequality and poverty progress together. Unlike
former times, poverty has partially fallen in these regions. However, satisfactory developments have not been recorded.
Some people in these regions are maintaining their lives with on a few dollars a day for food. This type of poverty is
more common in rural areas where people work for free on family-owned farms (SPO Development Report, 2007-2013:
8; Princovȃ, 2010: 131-137).
A company, at the other end of the world, with advanced technology can manage companies that operate in other
countries to reduce costs. Coordination is no longer provided within the company, but internationally. While this
improvement is a welcome progression of technological and technical developments, it reduces the number of people
who work and have the potential to work. The will and desire to supply people’s labor is not sufficient to be capable of
working because the skill of dominating current technological and technical systems negates the demand for labor. The
importance of physical labor has also been significantly reduced. Today, physical power is negligible compared to the
power of information. We are in an era in which knowledge, technique and technology are dominant and control all
systems. As a matter of fact, unemployment is rising among people who supply physical labor, and the type of
unregulated employment that is sought by those who have only physical power has become widespread. The difference
between high-skilled and low-skilled people, like the difference between developed and underdeveloped nations, has
increased dramatically. People who are described as low-skilled lack information and are unaware of technological
developments. On the other hand, high-skilled workers are equipped with technical knowledge that can adapt to the
knowledge-intensive systems by attributing importance to mental development. In this way, the system in which the
low-skilled person cannot live or even cannot show its existence is formed. People with low income levels and no
qualifications have low wages and are vulnerable because their place can be quickly filled, and they risk being
dismissed at any time (Wade, 2004: 567-589).
The Importance and the Role Of Social Investments
Today, social investments are more important than they were last century. Social investments and developed social
security systems are needed in all nations. Social and political polarization is manifesting itself in societies where there
are no social investments and social programs are not effective. As a matter of fact, social and political polarization is a
barrier to the creation of a homogeneous holistic society. It is obvious that new prescriptions are needed, mastermind
products that will ensure the preservation of homogeneous societies (Yüceol, 2005: 503; Palme &Palier: 20-21).
Setting policies by creating alternative ideas a with social investment perspective is regarded as a good step to ensure
unity by protecting integrity. Humanistic investment strategies in line with objectives (human capital activities) focus
on those who are in difficult situations, especially children and young people. Social investment is a keyword in
changing lives by improving them. If social investments are associated with other policies, despite the implications of
positive meanings, they can reinforce social investments. At the same time, the social investment perspective ensures
that ideas are spread over a wide range. With this situation, the regulations that people know, are familiar with and are
forced to live tend to change. By increasing competition, social investments associated with social learning allow
people better opportunities and give them self-confidence (Palme &Palier, 2012: 21).
The social investment perspective, which allows poverty to be assessed from different angles and is the product of a
different logic, is the concept that is accepted as the future of societies and economies. These programs can withstand
the problems that may occur in the future. These are essential programs that nations can use to overcome problems and
create equal conditions among people. In fact, social investments can eliminate hereditary and context-based
inequalities . Therefore, social expenditures for social investment programs are being considered by governments,
national and international organizations. Today, implementations that provide equal opportunity to people today may
prevent future inequality. As a result, people’s self-esteem, respect for the environment and self-confidence will
increase (Palme &Palier, 2012: 27).
Social investment programs that are social policy implementations have attracted the interest of governments, national
and international organizations since the dawn of the welfare state. This interest increased further with economic
development in the twentieth century. Social investment programs are paramount items on the agenda their supporters,
whose final goal is to establish welfare state. At the same time, with economic developments, maintaining a mode of
production in which production and knowledge dominate is among their goals (Andersen: 2002).
Ruhal SAMANLI (The Role of Social Investments in Reducing Unemployment and Poverty)
184
These policies were intended to increase people's competence and capabilities starting in pre-school. They were also
intended to increase the employment of housewives, a disadvantaged group, by paying attention to child care.
Increasing women’s employment is considered the first step towards women's freedom. However, the employment of
women is a key step that could have a positive effect on the employment of other women (Palme &Palier, 2012: 12-14).
The social investment perspective that values children, women and business, has been quickly adopted in liberal and
social democratic welfare states in Western nations. In Latin America, Western nations and international organizations,
social investment discourses have also hitted and been adopted because social investments have been recognized as the
system of the future when social policy adopts a different perspective. On the other hand, social investments involve
some of the legal roles of states. It is believed that people’s exclusion from economic life can be eradicated by jobs.
However, there is reason for some skepticism about social investments. Will all people have jobs? Will having jobs
solve all of society's problems? Will social exclusion be eradicated by job? In fact, social and economic problems can
only be partially resolved by jobs. But the aim of social investments is to improve the entire society. So, based on
perfection, the existence of some questions is to be expected (Mahon, 2012: 421-423; Palme &Palier, 2012: 354).
Social investments create a different perspective that leads people to think that work is a right and reduces competition
and struggle. The different understanding of its purpose should not lead to the abandonment of social investment.
However, regulations need to be made. Social investments have both a social rights dimension and the desire to offer
jobs to all people. To invest with the aim of providing job opportunities can improve long-term quality of life. Thus, the
transition between generations of poverty and lack of opportunities can finally be ended (Palme &Palier, 2012: 2).
Social investments, which are social policy practices that develop people in a personal sense, provide the best use of
nations’ human capital because labor markets have changed along with the global economic structure. Employees who
can adapt to change were needed. Nations’ economic development should be ensured along with the development of the
people involved in it by social expenditures for social investments. The problem of unqualified labor is an obstacle to
employment to be eliminated like the removal of barriers to women's employment with childcare and similar practices
(Jenson, 2010: 67).
Individuals who have not completed their individual development put up with the consequences of being deprived of
educational opportunities, while being exposed to poverty, which is both a cause and result of unemployment.
Inadequate education causes the labor market to be unable to employ workers and to fail to achieve production goals.
Thus, the social investment perspective gives more to the state than to the individual. On the other hand, people are
exposed to poverty as a result of not having access to educational opportunities. In this respect, attention is given to
social investment programs include educational activities. The only way to create jobs and provide employment is
educational activities because physical power has left its place to information and technological developments.
Therefore, information can be expressed as the most important factor in the new labor market. Obtaining and
transmitting information requires education. As a result, social investments and the social security system have accepted
the people with the least chance of being employed as a target group. This group includes long-term jobseekers or those
forced to earn a livelihood even if they have a job, those who have the will and desire to work, but have some obstacles
to work, the handicapped, housewives and young people. In addition, children have been regarded as special target
groups of social investments because of their long-lasting value to society (Yüceol, 2005: 507).
Social Investments and Social Policy Applications Will Be Employed in the Future
Social investments, which are considered long-term investments, are efforts to build a happy and healthy future by
mainly focusing on children. Children, young people, women, the unemployed and those who struggle with poverty
although they have jobs can benefit social investments. Social investments are intended to help people to work in
nations’ economic systems and to overcome problems stemming from unemployment. Political structures should pay
attention to projects that support the workforce in order to keep the economy alive. In this respect, social expenditures
for social investments support political structures and the peaceful unity of social structures. International organizations
such as UNICEF, ILO, the World Bank, UN funds and others support the implementation of social investment
programs. These social investment programs are intended to improve quality of life by increasing education levels.
Social investment programs focus on education because there is no other way of getting information. Social harmony
can be achieved when information is obtained through education. Change in global economic systems and making the
labor market flexible have caused unemployment, poverty and even poverty for those it employs. The reduction of
unemployment, poverty and worker poverty is due to social expenditures for social investment programs(Palme
&Palier, 2012: 353-354; Vandenbroucke;Vleminckx,2011:451-458).
Educational activities within the scope of social investment will be able to provide the fastest way for children, young
people, women and other disadvantaged groups to obtain employment. Providing scholarships from pre-school to
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185
university, free transportation, free meals, free education in public schools and training in professional skills makes it
possible for disadvantaged people to find jobs more easily, but the needs of the market are also important. Otherwise,
well-trained people will be less likely to find jobs. We can consider professional education as a dependent variable in
social investment programs that consider the needs of the labor market and employment plans as an independent
variable. In other words, regulating the educational system should be evaluated according to employment strategies and
the structure of the workforce. Increasing knowledge of technical issues must be the objective of education assessment.
Therefore, the fact that nations pay attention to social investments can increase nation’s employment rates while
increasing the quality of the labor force. In other words, it is possible for nations that are concerned about social policy,
especially social investments, to become nations with high welfare levels. Thus, social investment programs that are
social policy applications constitute one of the components of the welfare state. Globalization’s imposition of flexibility
on labor markets leaves people either unemployed or are working for inadequate incomes, and they face poverty
whether they work or not. This situation can be eliminated by social investment programs that are social policy
applications. Humane (human) capital development activities and active employment policies, which are considered the
tools of social investment programs, will ensure that poverty is prevented before it occurs. Indeed, the market’s needs
make it necessary to pay attention to social investment programs. The intergenerational transmission of poor living
conditions can be ended by social investments. Exclusion from social environments and socioeconomic structures can
be prevented. With professional training programs, reintroducing people to society who desire to work, especially
young people who will be working for the first time, is a social investment that will ease employment because the labor
market has difficulty finding people with professional qualifications. In this case, we can say that with active
employment policies, the final objectives of social investments can be achieved. In other words, active employment
policy studies to raise employment are the tools of social investment programs. In addition, the university educational
system, the terminal educational institution, should be able to provide people with occupations. Having a university
degree must show that an individual has professional skills with certain qualifications. Otherwise, both the limited
financial resources of families and the resources of the country will be wasted. The cost of the time spent may be heavy
for the young, for families and for states (Palme &Palier, 2012: 354).
Granting scholarships to students may be seen as social investment. The granting of and the increasing the amount of
scholarships moderately are considered a support for families struggling with unemployment and poverty. Its indirect
objectives guarantee the future of society. Being deprived of education impoverishes people. In this respect, to ensure
sustainable social welfare, the role of education in social investments is undeniably important. In other words, education
is indispensable to social investments, but to attain long-term gains and to raise people with open minds, it may be
possible to give more attention to the human educational system than necessary. For this reason, social investme nts for
children and young people are primarily related to the educational system. Thanks to the importance of education,
unemployment, the problems brought by unemployment and poverty will stop being the destiny of people. Getting out
of this vicious cycle will provide better opportunities and meet basic needs like health care , transportation, food,
housing and clothing. At the same time, the necessary facilities for socialization will be established. Otherwise, it will
not be possible for the individual to go to the cinema with the aim of socializing instead of buying fruit, vegetables and
bread (Aktan&Vural, 2002: 10).
Developing Human Capital as a Social Investment Instrument
The knowledge, skills and abilities possessed by the workforce are described as human capital. Today, it is a reality that
all economic agents attribute importance to knowledge and qualified human power as a source of competition. In
addition to infrastructure and physical capital, the contribution of qualified human power to the current welfare levels in
advanced economies cannot be denied. As a matter of fact, the wealth of nations is measured by human capital rather
than physical capital. This means that information is seen as an economic resource. Innate abilities and acquired
knowledge and abilities constitute the human capital of the individual. In developed nations, a great improvement is
achieved in acquired skills, while in underdeveloped nations only innate skills matter. This indicates the efforts of
people living in developed nations to develop human capital. On the other hand, people in underdeveloped nations are
content with their existing knowledge and skills and do not improve themselves. Thus, the progress of nations’
economic development parallels that of their human capital (Yumuşak, 2008: 10).
There are two types of capital, human and physical. Physical capital is stored and used when it is deemed necessary,
while human capital cannot be stored. Human capital, one of the tools of the social investment, is lost every moment it
is not used. Human capital is dynamic capital that cannot be stored and disappears when it is not used. Expenditures for
education and health are human capital investments. In this case, it is necessary to consider human capital is the product
of minds that target the human and see the human as valuable. For this reason, professional education is an important
Ruhal SAMANLI (The Role of Social Investments in Reducing Unemployment and Poverty)
186
component of human capital. Providing people with occupations should be the aim of universities. Indeed, societies
with high welfare levels spend on social investment programs, giving support to humanitarian politics, and attribute
importance to educational policies. National educational records, education, financial and physical conditions and
literacy rates are considered steps towards human capital development, one of the tools of social investment programs.
Social investment programs designed to develop human capital can also facilitate employment in the labor market while
developing people’s abilities (Eser&Gökmen, 2009: 45).
Active Employment Policies as Other Tools for Social Investment
Active employment policies were first used in Sweden to reach full employment and regulate inflation after World War
II. Although at first, active employment policies were ignored, the changing structure of the labor market during
globalization emphasized active employment policies. With the impact of globalization, structural changes in the labor
force caused unemployment. In this process, active employment policies are seen as a way to prevent unemployment
and poverty due to unemployment. The changing structure of the labor force now necessitates social investment
programs that are social policy programs. One leg of social investments is human capital, while the other leg is active
employment policies. Human capital equips people by providing them with skills through education and forms resilient
individuals for changing labor markets. Active employment policies targets people of working age who will be most
affected by unemployment. In other words, active employment policies are intended to help risk groups and the
unemployed to earn an income (Sanal: 3-10). Professional training and incentives that enable the employment of the
workforce help people to find jobs and start businesses. By facilitating the employment of those who cannot find jobs,
people are employed and those who are not producers, but consumers, can become producers. While this positively
changes people’s lives, it also makes nations become prosperous societies (Ay, 2012: 331).
Conclusion
In the paper titled as poverty and social investment with the changes in labor market, the labor market is depicted as a
system in between the global economic system and unemployment and the poverty caused by such unemployment. It
was tried to be explained in detail through qualitative research methods that, unemployment and poverty caused by
unemployment made it impossible for the individual and his/her dependents to sustain an honorable life and that, this
situation could be prevented by investing on social programs. The basic reason for poverty is depriving an individual of
income. The reason for being deprived of income is the lack of necessary qualifications to adapt to knowledge and
technological advancements. The global economic system ensures its globalism through the world-wide-web and it
employs individuals who are aware of the technical advancements. The labor market makes use of technical systems in
its relations of production. Knowledge has a significant effect on the relations of production. Companies wish to work
with individuals who would be able to have control over the whole production mechanism. Therefore, individuals who
can manage, plan, produce, supervise and control every stage of the job are more appealing. So, it is necessary to
possess relevant knowledge and skills in order not be excluded from the economic system and to acquire a job. In states
where unemployment and poverty show parallelism, governments canalize their resources to social investments with the
aim to encourage employment and reduce poverty.
The current economic system is claimed to be intensifying inequality and injustice, thus making the rich much richer
and making the conditions worse for the poor. States intending to protect their people invest on social programs and
secure their citizens against social risks. Otherwise, rational people seeking for their benefits would have the worst of
the cruel global economic system.
In order to use human resources more efficiently, it is necessary to focus on active employment policies as well as
human development programs and teach individuals how to fish. Otherwise, they would always wait for someone to
give them the fish. In this sense, we can consider human resources development programs and active employment
policy practices as the tools for accessing to social investments, which are the ultimate target. The relation between
them could help overcoming any potential problem. Through social investments, money is spent on social expenditures
with the intention to develop human resources and the individuals could be saved from depending on others throughout
their lifetime. Furthermore, inequalities among the individuals can be eliminated. With the opportunities offered to the
individuals, they will be enabled to feel secure both now and in the future. Social investment programs, which are
among the social policy practices brought up by neo-liberal systems in 1990s, were used as an umbrella term intending
to improve the life quality of all disadvantaged people. Among the people described as disadvantaged are housewives,
individuals who cannot find a job as they cannot adapt to changing economic systems, kids, young people and other
people who are trying to survive under unfavorable conditions. It was needed to make investments in order to empower
these people in the economic system. Otherwise, they would not be able to take part in work life and they would fail to
protect themselves and their family against the risks faced in life. Social investment program tools among the social
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187
policy practices and strategies indenting to develop human resources are now prioritized and individuals are tried to be
subjected to practices that will provide them with occupational technical information to help them adapt to the work
life. So thinking on micro-scale, there can be changes that would help the individuals have better lives.
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This article is a chapter in a book (Unregistered Employment). If you want to access full version of the book please
click: http://library.ecoei.org/book/unregistered-employment/
Citaiton of the article: Samanlı R. (2017), The Role of Social Investments in Reducing Unemployment and Poverty,
Ed. (Koç et al), in Unregistered Employment, Ijopec Publication.
