Major problems of the city according to İstanbulites: Earthquake, economy, transport

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Affiliated with the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İMM), the İstanbul Statistical Office has shared the results of its second "İstanbul Barometer."

According to the survey results, İstanbulites find a possible İstanbul earthquake, economic problems and transportation to be the most important problems of the city. The rate of those who are of the opinion that their economic situation will get worse in near future has increased.

As part of the research, the İstanbul Statistical Office got in touch with the İstanbulites by phone and asked them, "What do you think is the most important problem of İstanbul?" While 60.4 percent said that it was "a possible İstanbul earthquake", 52 percent said that it was "economic problems" and 41.1 percent said "transportation."

60.2 percent of the participants said that they earned less than they could make ends meet in November and 87.6 percent indicated that in the event of a possible emergency that could cost more than 5,000 lira (~630 USD), they could not afford them by their own means.

While 49.6 percent said that they were employed, 28.7 percent expressed fears that they could be laid off.75 percent of those currently looking for a job do not believe that they will find one in near future.

Most of the participants also expressed support for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 )measures and ban on smoking in public in this context.

Main items on agenda: COVID-19, economy

Participants were also asked about the issues that they talked about most in November. 55.3 percent of them said that the main issue in their conversations was COVID-19 while 27 percent answered that it was economic problems. 6 percent of the respondents indicated that they talked about the İzmir earthquake most. When compared with October, it was seen that COVID-19 was discussed more in the households in November.

The rate of those who thought that Turkey's economy would get worse dropped to 55.1 percent when compared to October. Similarly, the rate of the ones who thought that the economy would recover in near future increased to 22.8 percent. In November, 22.1 percent of İstanbulites thought that the course of the economy would not change.

Answering the same question for their own economy, 55.3 percent said that their economy would get worse in near future, which marks an increase compared to October. The rate of those who thought that their economic condition would get better also increased to 16.6 percent. 28.1 percent said that they did not expect a change in their economic condition.

60 percent of İstanbulites cannot make ends meet

60.2 percent of the respondents said that they could not earn enough money to make ends meet while 36.3 percent answered in the affirmative. Only 3.5 percent of the participants indicated that they could save money in November. When compared with the previous month, November saw more İstanbulites who could not make ends meet.

The borrowing rate of participants also increased to 44 percent in November and the rate of lending dropped to 3.2 percent.

More İstanbulites cannot pay their credit card

When the İstanbulites who could pay off their credit card abstracts were considered, it was seen that the rate of those who could do so dropped to 36 percent. 33.2 percent of the participants said that they could pay the minimum amount and 18.6 percent said they did not pay it at all, which both marked an increase when compared to October.

Participants were also asked a question regarding where they did their shopping most in November. Their answers were as follows:

Discounters (59.1 percent), town bazaars (39.2 percent), small retailers (26.5 percent), online markets (22.percent), other supermarkets (18.8 percent) and shopping malls (6.7 percent).

When compared to October, the rates of those shopping from discounters and bazaars dropped while that of online shoppers increased.

Answering a question regarding the budget planning of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, 37.6 percent said that social aid must be prioritized while 36.3 percent of the participants opted for struggle against the earthquake, 26.5 percent for financial aid to students, 24.9 percent for urban transformation and 15.8 percent for transportation.

Anxiety, stress levels increased

İstanbulites' anxiety and stress levels also increased in November, when compared to the previous month. While their stress level was 7.5/10, their anxiety level was calculated as 7.1/10 in November. While women's stress level was measured as 8, that of men was 7.1.

As for life satisfaction and happiness rates of İstanbulites, they were measured as 4.4 and 4.7 percent, respectively. Both levels decreased when compared to October. While women's life satisfaction rate was 4.6 percent, that of men was 4.2 percent. (RT/SD)