A NEW ERA IN LABOR MARKET POLICIES IN TURKEY: UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF

Protecting its citizens against the problems caused by unemployment is one of the main goals of every welfare regime that defines itself as a social state. Welfare regimes provide direct or indirect employment opportunities with labor market policies implemented for this purpose or compensate for the loss of income caused by unemployment. The COVID-19 epidemic, the effects of which still continue in world, has made the mentioned unemployment risk much more dangerous, and millions of people have remained unemployed all over the world due to the epidemic. The practices classified as passive labor market policies are regarded as the only way out for the protection of the welfare levels of individuals who are unemployed due to the crisis. In this study, starting from the relationship between unemployment and welfare regimes in the world and labor market policies implemented in Turkey were examined and the changes in welfare regimes' labor market policies and ways of intervention in labor markets were analyzed due to the outbreak. The analysis showed that for the first time in Turkey, albeit limited, "unemployment relief" has been applied. This application in terms of labor market policies in Turkey is thought to mark a new era.