Türk-İş: Starvation Line of a Family of Four Exceeds Minimum Wage

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The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş) has released the May report of the "Starvation and Poverty Line Survey," which it conducts every month to reveal the living conditions of employees and effects of price changes to families' budgets.

The coronavirus outbreak has had a negative impact on the whole society, especially the low-income and fixed-income groups, according to the report.

For a four-member family, the starvation line is 2,438 lira, the poverty line is 7,942 lira, the survey has found. The monthly "living cost" of a single working person is 2,961 lira. The minimum salary in Turkey is 2,324 lira (1 lira=6.77 US dollars).

The monthly rate of the "kitchen inflation" is 2.71 percent and the 12-month rate is 14.80 percent, according to the report.

"Aids are not enough to meet expenses"

"In this period, the 'basic income' has gained importance as a social policy practice. The support provided by the central and local administrations has become widespread along with the income support for the poor. The main problem here is the extent of the aid provided to the poor to meet the basic needs. Only the food expenditure that a family of four should make is above the net minimum wage.

"It is not possible for the majority of society to earn income that can cover these expenditures. For wage workers and small retailers, the uncertainty of life and the limited opportunity to have a regular income in the future increase concerns. While the regular income provided is positive, although it is low, it is far from meeting expenditures.

"Aids should be rights-based"

"In the first five months of the year, the monthly food expenditure (kitchen expense) of a family of four is 276 lira higher and the total expenditure is 898 lira higher than the end of last year. Considering the past year, the additional expenditure for food is 314 lira and for the total household spending is 1,023 lira.

"The income to be provided to a person as a citizen should not be below the minimum wage. The aids provided should be" right based." The basic approach is to provide income support by considering households rather than individuals. In this respect, the income support provided for unpaid workers and the family should be readjusted by considering the low amount and the situation of families." (HA/VK)