Women as Unpaid Family Workers: Working the Fields but Not Counted as Working

Why is unpaid family work by women so common in and around Çorum? A data-based look at invisible labour, self-worth and financial dependence.

Ask a woman who gets up with the morning call to prayer to feed the animals, spends the day hoeing in the field and comes home in the evening to cook dinner, "Do you work?", and the answer is often surprising: "No, I'm a housewife." The labour of women unpaid family workers captures exactly this contradiction. In statistics, an "unpaid family worker" is someone who works without pay in a business belonging to a family member. According to a study based on TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute) data and published in the Journal of Regional Development (Mek, 2023), in 2021 55.3 per cent of those working in agriculture in the TR83 region, which includes Çorum (Samsun, Tokat, Çorum, Amasya), were unpaid family workers; this amounts to about 230,000 people. In this article we look at what this figure means, the structural factors behind it, and how invisible labour echoes in women's inner worlds.

The Labour of Women Unpaid Family Workers: What Do the Figures Say?

The core data on the subject are as follows:

• Unpaid family work in agriculture: According to Mek's (2023) study based on TÜİK data, 55.3 per cent of agricultural employment in the TR83 region in 2021 consisted of unpaid family workers. This group corresponds to 22.9 per cent of all employment in the region.
• The weight of agriculture: According to the same study, 38.3 per cent of employment in TR83 is in agriculture; in Turkey this share is 17.2 per cent. According to the 2024–2028 Regional Plan of the Central Black Sea Development Agency (OKA), agriculture's share of Çorum's economy was 17.97 per cent in 2021; in Turkey it was 5.54 per cent.
• Rural population: According to the 2025 briefing of the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, 24.2 per cent of Çorum's population lived in villages in 2024.
• Women's employment: According to news reports citing TÜİK's Women in Statistics 2022 bulletin, the women's employment rate in TR83 in 2021 was 33.8 per cent, the third-highest of 26 regions. In the same year, women's labour force participation rate in Turkey was 32.8 per cent.
• Level of education: According to Mek's (2023) study, 11 per cent of employed women in TR83 cannot read or write and 54 per cent have less than a high-school education. In Turkey these figures are 5 per cent and 45 per cent.

The limits of the data

These figures are at the level of a region covering four provinces, not at provincial level. More importantly, the breakdown of unpaid family work in agriculture by sex could not be found in the available sources. It is therefore not possible to say "this many of these 230,000 people are women". Even so, it is well known that unpaid work on the family farm in rural areas is largely associated with women's labour across Turkey. Regional reports also note that unpaid family work in agriculture may be part of the reason women's employment in the region appears higher than the Turkey average. The rate of informal employment could not be found at either provincial or regional level; the literature regards unpaid family work as one of the main sources of informality.

Possible Factors Behind the Labour of Women Unpaid Family Workers

Several interconnected structural factors may play a part in forming this picture:

The tradition of family farming. In small and medium-sized family farms, work in the fields, vineyards, gardens and with livestock is the shared work of the family. Income is usually earned in the name of the household, and often in the name of the male head of the household. The woman's labour dissolves into this shared production and is not defined separately.

Housework and farm work intertwined. In rural areas there is no clear line between milking, making tomato paste, preparing for winter, tending the garden and working in the fields. That is why women themselves often describe this labour not as "work" but as "the household's work".

Education and job opportunities. The fact that the education level of employed women in the region is below the Turkey average may limit women's access to registered, paid jobs. The scarcity of paid work options in villages can also make the family field the only place to work.

Social security defined through the family. A woman's insurance, health cover and future pension are often thought of through her husband or father. Although this may not seem a problem in the short term, it can leave a woman vulnerable at times such as divorce, the death of her husband or old age.

Social roles. The view that "a woman's real job is the home" can make the labour a woman puts into the fields invisible too. Even if she spends most of the day in production, she may not be socially recognised as a "working woman".

These factors are not a definite cause-and-effect relationship but possible explanations to be considered together. The strengths of rural life, such as solidarity, closeness to nature and family ties, are also part of the same picture.

A Psychological Reading: Invisible Labour and Self-Worth

When labour is not seen, the person who puts it in also feels invisible to some degree. This can be reflected in women's state of mind in several ways.

The belief that "I don't do anything"

A woman who has been defined as a "housewife" for years may begin to devalue her own labour, even though she actually works long hours. Thoughts such as "I don't earn anything" or "What would I know?" shape a person's view of herself over time. A sense of worthlessness is often fed not by a single event but by repeated messages of this kind.

Financial dependence and having a say

A woman with no income in her own name may find it hard to exercise her say in spending, the children's education or decisions about the home. Having to ask permission even for a small need can, over time, feed feelings of helplessness and anger. Let us say that a 45-year-old woman describes how her husband bought a new tractor with the harvest money from the chickpea field they had sown together for years, without even asking her opinion. The source of her hurt is not the money itself, but that her labour and her voice were not taken into account.

Physical tiredness and the feeling that "I have no right to rest"

The combination of field work and housework can lead to long-term physical exhaustion. Yet because this labour is not counted as "work", a woman may also not regard her need for rest as legitimate. Physical complaints such as back pain, headaches and sleep problems can at times also be a language for suppressed emotional burdens.

Worry about the future

For a woman with no insurance or savings of her own, questions such as "What will happen if something happens to my husband?" or "Who will I depend on when I'm old?" can be a quiet but constant source of anxiety. This worry often goes unspoken, because even talking about it may be perceived as distrust towards the family. Unspoken worry can show itself as sleepless nights, frequently thinking about the future and silently doing sums, or intense unease at even the smallest family argument.

The effect of the seasons on mood

Agricultural work rises and falls with the seasons. In spring and summer, intense weeks of sowing, hoeing and harvesting can turn into a pace in which a woman has no time at all for herself. In winter, field work decreases, days shorten and time spent indoors grows longer. For some women this period is a chance to rest; for others, the emptiness that follows intense work is experienced together with listlessness and sadness. The fact that exhaustion comes to the fore in one part of the year and a sense of meaninglessness in another is an important clue to understanding the effect of this labour on mood.

Transmission across generations

Daughters grow up watching their mothers' labour being overlooked. Some continue this cycle, while others seek a different path through education and paid work. These different paths can at times also lead to hurt between mother and daughter of the "You look down on us" or "You wasted yourself" kind.

Labour not being paid for does not mean it is worthless; making the invisible visible can also change how a person sees herself.

We looked in detail at how similar feelings are experienced in relation to domestic labour in our article on depression in housewives.

Practical Suggestions for Women, Families and Institutions

For women themselves:

• Name your labour. Try writing down, just once, the tasks you do during the day. This small exercise can help you see how untrue the thought "I don't do anything" is.
• Make small spaces for yourself. A short period of rest or enjoyment during the day that belongs to you alone can protect against burnout.
• Stay connected. Solidarity, collective work (imece) and conversation with neighbouring women are among the strongest sources of support in rural life.
• Get information. Learning about social security rights, options for insurance in your own name and women's cooperatives can reduce worry about the future. For example, initiatives such as a production cooperative set up by women in Sungurlu offer inspiring examples of making women's labour visible.

For families and husbands:

• Thank her for her labour and make it visible. Saying "Your work made a big difference to this year's harvest" is a simple but powerful form of recognition.
• Make decisions together. A woman's involvement in decisions such as how harvest income will be used strengthens trust and balance within the family.
• Share the load. Sharing the housework after a day of working together in the field can prevent a woman from burning out.
• Plan the future together. Discussing as a family the options for her to have security in her own name is a concrete expression of trust in her; this conversation is not a sign of distrust but a way of looking to the future together.
• Set an example for the children. Children who see their mother's labour openly appreciated at home learn respect for women's work from an early age.

For institutions: Literacy and vocational courses for rural women, support for cooperatives, information on social security and programmes through which women can manage their own income can play an important role in reducing both the economic and psychological burden of invisible labour.

When Should You Seek Professional Support?

Tiredness, hurt or an occasional sense of worthlessness are feelings anyone who puts in intense labour may experience. However, it may be worth seeking support from a mental health professional in the following situations:

• If there is a long-lasting lack of motivation, inability to enjoy anything, or hopelessness
• If there is a constant urge to cry, withdrawal or distancing from people
• If unexplained physical pain and sleep problems are making daily life difficult
• If the person constantly feels useless, worthless or like a burden
• If there is pressure, humiliation or violence within the family

If you are experiencing violence or a situation that threatens your safety, do not hesitate to call 112 (emergency services) in an emergency. Seeking support does not show that a person is weak, but that she values herself.

How Are Invisible Labour and Worthlessness Addressed in Therapy?

Therapy offers a space where a woman can talk in a safe setting about the burden she carries and her thoughts about herself in relation to it. Where feelings of worthlessness and low mood are prominent, work in the area of depression and mood can offer guidance.

Therapy usually focuses on the following:

• Recognising labour and feelings: Putting into words tiredness, anger and hurt that have been ignored for years.
• Reviewing thoughts: Within the framework of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), noticing beliefs such as "I'm no use" or "My opinion doesn't matter" and evaluating them from a more balanced perspective.
• Early maladaptive schemas: Understanding how patterns from childhood such as "self-sacrifice" or "subjugation" are reflected in present-day relationships.
• Setting boundaries and communication: Finding ways to express needs, take part in decisions and say no.
• Self-care: Supporting the view of rest and caring for one's body and feelings not as something to be earned but as a basic need.

Psychological support can be received face to face in Çorum, and online sessions can also be an option for women living in villages from which it is difficult to reach the centre.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does unpaid family worker mean?

In statistics, an unpaid family worker is someone who works in a business belonging to a family member, for example on the family farm or in the family shop, without receiving a wage for it. These people are counted as employed, but they have no income in their own name.

Do these figures show how many women in Çorum work unpaid?

No. The available data belong to the four-province TR83 region, which includes Çorum, and do not contain a breakdown by sex. The figures only show how widespread unpaid family work in agriculture is in the region.

Why does invisible labour affect mental health?

People need their labour to be seen and appreciated. When labour is constantly overlooked, worthlessness, anger, burnout and worry about the future can develop. Financial dependence can also weaken a person's sense of control over her own life.

As a woman, how can I feel the value of my labour more?

Naming the work you do, having a say in decisions, making small spaces for rest and staying connected with women who support you are important steps. If the sense of worthlessness has been intense for a long time, talking to a professional may also be helpful.

• #women's labour
• #rural life
• #self-worth
• #Çorum

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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