The participation of children in the workforce in Turkey has risen to 21.1 percent in 2018 from 20.3 percent the previous year, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the Diken news website reported.
TurkStat’s data concern children aged between 15 and 17.
In 2018, 28 percent of the Turkish population was composed of children, who numbered 22.9 million.
Divided by gender, 28.5 percent of children in the workforce were boys and 11.8 percent were girls in 2017, rising to 30 percent for boys and remaining the same for girls in 2018.
According to the United Nations definition, individuals aged between 0 and 17 are considered children, and there has been a constant decline in Turkey’s child population.
While children made up 48.5 percent of Turkey’s total population in 1970, this fell to 41.8 percent in 1990 and 28 percent in 2018. According to population growth projections, Turkey’s child population will be 23.3 percent in 2040, 20.4 percent in 2060 and 19 percent in 2080.