Changing Retirement Patterns in Turkey: Case of Municipal and Metal Sector Workers

Welfare regime of Turkey has witnessed a rapid transformation in the last two decades with reforms rushing in, in a variety of fields: health care, pension and social assistance to name a few. Over the reforms that have took effect, literature have mainly focused on the impacts and outcomes of these reforms especially in health care which have expanded; and social assistance, which have been thoroughly institutionalized. Regarding the pension reforms that were gradually implemented, first in 1999 and second in 2008, partial examinations through the lens of welfare regime typologies have been made especially under the umbrella of 2008 reform that was comprehensive. This paper analyzes the compatibility of Turkey’s current pension system with the prevailing labour market structure and employment relations, with a focus on the pension reforms of 1999 and 2008. While some of the institutional features of the reform, like the establishment of a unified social security institution, are considered positive improvements which have eliminated the notorious inefficiency that characterized the previous social security system, the pension reform had overlooked the different experiences in employment relations and occupational conditions which are non-negligible factors on shaping the retirement experience. In order to present the nature of this oversight, paper depends on a total of 32 in-depth and focus group interviews with workers and pensioners/retired workers of two different sectors; namely metal industry and municipality. By presenting a comparative qualitative research the study draws a tangible case of incompatibility of the pension system to the prevailing labor market structure and employment relations. The two groups were chosen in order to compare sectoral differences as a determinant feature for retirement perceptions, attitudes and prospects of retirement which the pension reform had overlooked. The paper argues that the retirement patterns are largely influenced by the overall combination of the changing labor market structure, employment relations in different sectors and pension system parameters which necessitates the social pension system to be rethought with the current working conditions.