Investigation of Seasonal Female and Child Labor Use in Cotton Agriculture: The Case of Mardin Province

Abstract
In the study, it has been tried to determine the dimensions of seasonal female and child labor employed in cotton agriculture in Mardin province and the factors that are effective in the seasonal agricultural workers working in cotton harvesting themselves and their children. For this purpose, the data obtained by face-to-face interviews with 150 seasonal female workers in the cotton-producing villages of Mardin province were determined by simple random sampling method. It was used in the analysis of the probit model with the LIMDEP statistical program. In the study, according to the results of the CART analysis, it was determined that the most important factor affecting the annual income level of female working in the cotton harvest is the annual working period and the education level of the children. In the probit model, which predicts whether female working in the cotton harvest business have children under the age of 18, the employee's nationality other than the Turkish Republic, the number of children under the age of 18 working in the cotton harvest business, and the probability of the children of those with social security other than SSI (green card, etc.) increases, the probability of being married decreases. It can be suggested that female working in the cotton harvest in Mardin and their children under the age of 18 can become SSI employees, raise their living standards, and improve social, accommodation and nutrition education conditions.