household income, and for many families this income level can only be guaranteed if both partners are active in the labor market.

Several European countries have already been dealing with a work-life-balance conflict. While female employment rates have been rising in all European countries, fertility rates have been declining since the 1960s until the 1990s. Over the last decade, fertility has been stagnating at relatively low levels below replacement level, as for example in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain or several Eastern European countries, while some other countries, such as France or the Nordic countries, experienced a significant re-increase in fertility back to replacement level. Luci-Greulich and Thévenon (2013, 2014) show that the re-increase in fertility is strongest in those highly developed countries providing institutional support for partners to combine work and family life. In these countries, increases in female employment come hand in hand with increases in fertility. Female employment and fertility are thus no longer contradictory objectives (see also Myrskilä et al, 2009). Female employment is even likely to facilitate fertility in the presence of institutional work-life balance support. A successful integration of women in the labor market not only before but also after childbirth generates family income which enables family enlargement.

This intuition is confirmed by Greulich and al. (2014), who find that the positive pattern between fertility and employment, which has been observed on the aggregate level, can be confirmed for the micro level. They show that in most European countries, employed women have a higher probability of family enlargement than women being inactive or unemployed. The positive correlation is particularly strong for educated women in high fertility countries, where child care coverage is high. A stable employment position is most likely to create a secure economic environment, which seems to be a crucial condition for deciding in favor of family enlargement. Family policies enabling mothers to combine work with family life, in particular the provision of childcare for young children, are most likely to encourage women’s decision for a second child. Childcare policies can thus be viewed as an important tool to promote simultaneously women’s fertility as well as women’s employment. Besides, labor market policies are needed to encourage a stable integration of women in the labor market.

In Turkey, almost 80% of children live in households with a single earner - this is the largest proportion among European countries (EU average 40%). The proportion of children living in a household with both parents not working is also relatively large compared to other European countries (OECD Family Data Base, 2014). As a consequence of Turkey’s particular parental employment pattern with maternal employment around 22% only, child poverty rates are extremely high in Turkey (27% in Turkey, 10% on average in the EU; OECD FDB 2014). It seems likely that more and more couples decide against family enlargement due to economic instability.

At the moment, policy action in Turkey privileges a pro-natalist approach with targeted cash transfers intending to encourage families to have a child of a higher rank (3+). Child care coverage is generally low in Turkey, but particularly in rural areas. Below 1% of children aged 0 to 2 are enrolled in formal childcare, while the EU average is 28%. Child care coverage is also low for children aged 3 to 5 (20% in Turkey against 80% in the EU; OECD FDB 2014). Paid parental leave is also among the lowest in Turkey in comparison to other European countries, among other reasons because many employers are opposed to reforms in that field (Council of Europe, 2009). Combining work and family life is thus not possible for women, especially when having several children, and cash transfers only offer insufficient compensation.

This paper has shown that in Turkey, female employment and education come along with decreases in fertility so far, while educated and employed women are particularly at risk of deciding against child 24