Labor force participation of women in forest villages and their income status: A case study of Trabzon

All around the world, women are mostly responsible from nourishing their families. To perform this, women conduct respective economic activities either unpaid in their households, or paid in the public sphere. In a seemingly more agriculture-oriented country of Turkey, while women’s labor force participation is higher than that of men’s in rural areas, most of the agricultural and stock-breeding activities are performed by women labor. This study is based on the data from a survey in 68 forest villages of Trabzon province in Turkey, performed among 611 rural women and 237 rural men. Consequentially, it has been found out that, while nearly all of the household activities are undertaken by women, women labor is also higher than that of men’s in a range of activities from stock-breeding to agricultural activities. Men take a slightly more active role in the sale of agricultural and animal products, and in forestry. It has also been understood that, agricultural and stock-breeding activities in forest villages are performed mostly for subsistence production, and that the substantial income source of forest villagers includes fees, wages, etc., being earned from activities outside the villages. The higher the household incomes rise, the lower the dependency to forestry falls. Average per capita income in these villages is $1936, namely at a level lower than its Turkish average.   Key words: Forest villages, rural women, income, labor force.