Household Structure, and Household Income and its Components over the Life-Cycle in Turkey

In this study, using the 2003 Turkish Household Budget Survey (HBS), we investigate the life-cycle profiles of household income and its components by educational attainment, and compare these profiles with those reported for various developed and developing countries. A key aspect of our analysis is that we examine the link between household structure and household income over the life-cycle. The most interesting finding of the study is that household income profiles conditional on educational attainment in Turkey are nondecreasing and quite flat over the life-cycle. This is in stark contrast to the hump-shaped household income profiles reported for developed countries. There are three main reasons for this fact in Turkey: i) Multiple nuclear families live together in the same household, especially when the household head is very young or old, and many adult children who are employed live in their parents' households. ii) Many household heads are still employed at end of their life cycle, especially among the less-educated. iii) Pension income levels, for those who are qualified for them, are relatively high compared to other components of income.