“Unemployed Men’s Perceptions of Fatherhood and Parental Involvement: A Comparison of Turkish Fathers in Germany and Turkey” (Project No: 221N433) is conducted under the TÜBİTAK 2531-Bilateral Cooperation Support Program with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). This research project is a collaborative effort between Sabancı University and Ruhr University. The main aim of the project, conducted under the joint investigation of Prof. Dr. Nebi Sümer and Prof. Dr. Anna Sieben, is to comprehend the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of employed and unemployed fathers in Germany and Turkey to understand the dynamics that shape the parental involvement of unemployed fathers.

Although there are an increasing number of studies considering unemployment and fatherhood issues separately, only a few studies have investigated the fatherhood and parenting experiences of unemployed fathers. This study aims to fill this gap considering the employment status of both fathers and their spouses, and their access to unemployment compensation with a multidisciplinary and comparative perspective.

Family and kinship networks are accepted as buffer zones for economic difficulties including the unemployment of a family member. In this respect, this study aims to provide a comparison of the social constructions and experiences of unemployed fathers in two different welfare systems, namely Germany and Turkey. Unemployed men in Germany and Turkey have different economic and social support networks that can either exacerbate or alleviate the negative impacts of unemployment within the household. Given this research project’s intention to uncover this comparison, it has the potential to contribute to the relevant literature.