The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş) announced that the food expenditure of a family of four in Ankara in June increased by 0.10 percent per month. On an annual basis, this increase was 62.30 percent. According to Türk-İş data, the hunger limit for a family of four rose to 10,373 TL in June, while the poverty line rose to 33,789 TL.
The report revealed that, on average, 22.8 percent of household income is spent on food, and households in the lowest 20 percent income bracket have to meet 35.8 percent of their food expenditures.
According to the research, the cost of living for a single employee reached 13,471 TL. In the statement of Türk-İş, it was stated that “if Turkey implements options to return to a rational basis in monetary and fiscal policies, these policy changes may reduce actual individual consumption per capita, depending on preferences”.
Can You Draw Me a Picture of Poverty?
It is of course possible to paint a picture of poverty. Moreover, the place where you can draw this picture in the best way does not have to be a so chosen slum in Istanbul. Poverty and hunger are a global problem, Turkey, America, Germany, France… Poverty has always existed in all countries of the world and unfortunately it will always exist…
Painting or photographing poverty for Turkey is not something we can achieve. However, it is possible to show the graph of this.
Here is the graph of Turkey’s hunger and poverty. The ever-increasing wages try to keep up with the ever-increasing prices, rarely catch up and often fall short…
If we take the data on the poverty and hunger limit announced by Türk-İş union every month for the previous month, we see that the amount that a family of 4 must earn in order to stay above the hunger limit in Turkey and the amount that the same family must earn in order not to fall into the ‘poor’ category is constantly increasing. . This data actually tends to increase in every country where there is no negative inflation. In countries with high inflation, the poverty and openness line increase rapidly, while this rate is lower in Scandinavian countries and Continental Europe. Because inflation in these countries is usually close to the target level of 2 percent.
The graphic above shows us the hunger and poverty line of a family of 4 living in Ankara, Turkey, as well as the minimum wage per person since 2021.
Attention to the data from the beginning of 2021 to the beginning of 2022! 1 minimum wage was enough to cover the minimum food and beverage expenses of a family of 4. In addition, if a family of 4 worked for the minimum wage of that period, it could rise above the poverty line. Although it is not a heartwarming situation that about 4 people are working to get rid of poverty, it still paints an optimistic picture compared to the rapid impoverishment that will take place in the next period.
As of the beginning of 2022, we see that the minimum wage has started to remain below the hunger limit. It seems that the increase in the minimum wage in this period was not enough to raise the wages to the level of 2021 in terms of food purchasing power. However, before the last minimum wage hike in 2023, it is possible to say that even if a family of four works for the minimum wage, it remains consistently below the ‘poverty line’.
It is even possible to draw a graph of it.
The only thing that needs to be understood in this graph is the effect of the deterioration seen after 2021 on wage earners. So much so that at some point in 2021, in order for a family of 4 to not be considered poor, it was necessary to have about 5 minimum wages in their house. In other words, 4 people earn minimum wage from 5 jobs. Imagine a newly married couple and their two children aged 0 to 3 years. For this couple to be considered poor, the parents had to work an average of 2.5 jobs with minimum wage, or both had to work at a minimum of 1 job and earn twice the minimum wage.
So what is the cause of this breakdown?
To put it clearly, inflation…
It would be a lie to say that when we look at this graph, the inflation x-ray of Turkey and the x-ray, we see a very heartwarming picture.
When we take the long-term, that is, the 5-year average of Turkey’s annual inflation, we see that the inflation is generally between 8.70 and 9. The red line on the chart represents this 5-year average. If we look at the year 2010, we see that the annual inflation rate, which is the blue line, has progressed almost in parallel with the red line, and even the annual inflation has remained below this average from time to time. Looking at the chart in more detail, deviations from the average that started in late 2016 and early 2017 can be seen. Finally, it is possible to understand from the red line that inflation has risen on average.
Right here, attention should be paid to the end of 2021. A great deviation from the average and the unstoppable rise of inflation… The jump of the 5-year average inflation rate from 8.7 percent to 29 percent…
cryptocoin it may not be possible for readers to draw a picture of poverty or take a picture of it like the famous photographer Ara Güler did. However, it is possible to draw graphs of this…
This is poverty ‘reason result’ is the graph based on the relationship…
Poverty in Turkey: A Story of Chase!