This study explores the impacts of the 2008–2009 economic crisis on joblessness in Turkey, incorporating into the analysis the marginally attached who would like to work if the opportunity existed, but are not actively searching for a job. We find that women were more likely than men to have a marginally attached status over the whole period of analysis, and during the time of the crisis, the number of marginally attached grew significantly faster for women than for men. The transition probability for the employed to become marginally attached and move out of the labour force rose substantially more for women than it did for men. The results obtained have important implications. Using conventional criteria, it is not possible to identify the degree of motivation to work or search for work in the case of women in Turkey, where the possibilities of shifting the care of burden to someone else or an institution are very limited, as a result of inadequate provisioning of public care services.

The increase in unemployment in the United Kingdom that accompanied the Great Recession has been conspicuous by its moderation. The rise in joblessness is dwarfed by the recent experience of the United States, by past recessionary episodes in the UK and by the contraction in GDP in the UK. Increased rates of job loss have played a dominant role in shaping the rise in British unemployment. Unemployment duration has not increased to the levels seen in previous recessions, in contrast to the US where duration substantially exceeds previous peaks. Looking forward, the UK labour market appears to have adjusted fully to the shocks that prompted the recession. Signs of reductions in match efficiency witnessed recently in the US are not mirrored in the UK. In contrast, while long-term unemployment currently remains well below historical levels, recent estimates of job finding rates suggest that it has the potential to rise much further. Thus, a timely recovery in aggregate demand will play an important role in averting persistently high unemployment in the future.