Available studies show that in the context of strong investments by the Turkish government, the majority of households are able to enroll children in school and receive treatment in case of illness, although important coverage gaps still remain.<sup>9</sup> About 62% of school-age refugee children are enrolled in school. At 96%, enrollment rates are higher for the primary level (first 4 years of instruction). Enrollment at the secondary level is substantially lower (55% for middle and 24% for high school, see Regional Refugee & Resilience Plan / 3RP, 2019-20). On health care, households sought and received medical treatment for 71% of sick children and 34% of adults (WFP, 2019).

Sources of livelihood are constrained for refugees. Based on the results of a livelihoods survey conducted by Turkish Red Crescent and WFP among ESSN applicants in 19 provinces of Turkey, 84% of refugee households had at least one member who was working. However, the vast majority were working informally with low wages and unreliable access to work: 20% worked in “unskilled services” (occupations requiring physical effort or manual labor, such as cleaners, paper collectors, porters, or street vendors), followed by textile (19%), construction (12%), artisanship (10%) and agriculture (8%, WFP and TRC, 2019b). The informal nature of refugee work created additional competition for jobs in the informal sector, which accounted for 35% of the Turkish economy in 2019.<sup>10</sup> Labor market integration is hampered by language, skills and validation of degrees obtained abroad– 80% of refugees had only basic command of the Turkish language, while 11% were illiterate, 52% were literate or had up to primary school education, and 37% had a high school degree or higher (WFP and TRC, 2019b). Although Turkey introduced legislation to allow refugees to apply to work permits and work formally if they find an employer, very few formal sector employers have shown a willingness to hire refugees and as a result only 31,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey had official work permits by March 2019, or nearly 1.5% of the 2.1 million working-age population.<sup>11</sup> Until 2016, there were no concerted social assistance mechanisms for refugees living among host communities. With the signing of the EU-Turkey accord in 2016, and the creation of the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey, the ESSN program was set up to fill this gap. The program was launched in November 2016, with the aim of meeting the basic needs of the most vulnerable refugees living in Turkey, and provide cash transfers for a total amount of one billion euros for its first two phases covering the period up to March 2020.<sup>12</sup> To be able to apply to the ESSN program, households need to have a valid registration ID and a registered address of residence in Turkey. To register and obtain a valid ID refugees need to approach the Provincial

> 9 The Turkish government has invested US$37 billion to provide social services to refugees (Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan / 3RP, 2019-2020).

> 10 TURKSTAT Labor Market Statistics June 2020, Employment by status in social security registration, June 2019, June 2020 data.

> 11 CNN Turk, 2019. News Article on Minister of Trade of Turkey’s statements on the number of Syrians with work permits in Turkey, June 14, 2019. Bakan Pekcan: 15 bin 159 Suriyeli şirket var https://www.cnnturk.com/ekonomi/bakan-pekcan15-bin-159-suriyeli-sirket-var.

> 12 The program has been recently extended until December 2021.

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