TEMPORAL CHANGE OF DIVORCE IN TURKEY (2001-2021)

Abstract

Divorce is the legal dissolution of the marriage between the couples, the de facto separation of the spouses, and the dissolution of the family union. Turkey is a country where the divorce phenomenon has increased and the duration of marriage has changed in recent years. The financial and moral difficulties experienced between the spouses in the act of divorce are essential. The problems that affect the divorce phenomenon can vary from region to region, as well as common reasons; the reasons such as the education level of individuals, economic difficulties, women’s employment incompatibility, adultery, committing crimes and dishonor, attempting life, abandonment, mental illness and the deterioration of marital union can be cited as reasons. As of 2020, the problems experienced during the pandemic period have been added to the existing reasons for divorce. In this period, couples who had to spend time at home for a long time started to have problems with communication and this problem reflected negatively on family relations. Factors such as economic problems, increasing unemployment problems, and the closure of schools and kindergartens which have fundamentally changed Daily life around the world, have increased the stress on people. According to the divorce data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), the crude divorce rate, which was ‰1.41 in 2001, increased over the years and reached the level of ‰1,90 in 2019. Due to the onset of full closures and the closed courts during the Covid- 19 epidemic period, there was a decrease in divorce rates in 2020 and the crude divorce rate decreased to ‰1,64. In 2021, it increased to  ‰2,07.

In the study carried out, the divorce statistics obtained from TUIK were analyzed and the data related to the divorce phenomenon were evaluated. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to statistically evaluate the factors affecting the divorce phenomenon. It was determined that the independent variables of income (national income per capita) and education level (literate Population ratio) on the crude divorce rate dependent variable were important factors and had positive effects on divorce. Minitab 20 program was used to perform multiple regression analysis. The analyzes show that the divorce rates, which have increased in recent years, have become a social problem that should be emphasized in our country. It is thought that the work carried out on the subject will increase awareness and it will be effective in producing plans and projects for the solution of the problem and in developing solution proposals.