According to TÜRK-İŞ, the hunger limit for July rose to 19 thousand 234 TL and the poverty line to 62 thousand 652 TL. While the minimum wage is 17 thousand 2 TL, pensioners receive 12500 TL. Hence in July, the minimum wage is 11.6% lower than the hunger threshold. The government declared the minimum wage will not be adjusted to Turkey’s 72% CPI inflation in mid-year due to disinflation efforts.
The inflation had spiked with the AKP’s pre-2023 election policy mix which was based on extreme negative real rates to a tune of 50-60%, very weak Turkish lira and high public spending.
Prof. Ozatay questioned the sustainability of Minister Şimşek’s economy program from his X account saying “An economic program that condemns most workers to a minimum wage far below the hunger line is neither acceptable nor sustainable…”
TÜRK-İŞ announced the July 2024 Hunger and Poverty line report. July 2024 hunger limit increased to 19 thousand 234 TL and poverty limit increased to 62 thousand 652 TL.
According to the report, a family of four living in Ankara; the amount of monthly food expenditure (hunger limit) that a family of four living in Ankara should make in order to have a healthy, balanced and adequate diet is 19.234,43 TL, the total amount of food expenditure and other compulsory monthly expenses for clothing, housing (rent, electricity, water, fuel), transportation, education, health and similar needs (poverty limit) is 62.652.87 TL, and the ‘cost of living’ of a single employee increased to 24,901.78 TL per month.
The report noted that it is becoming more and more difficult for almost all segments of the society, especially narrow and fixed-income workers and pensioners, to maintain their lives in conditions worthy of human dignity. TÜRK-İŞ stated that it has put forward this study in order to determine the living conditions of employees and the reflections of the price changes in basic necessities on the family budget.
As of July, the difference between the cost of living of a single worker and the net minimum wage (without tax deduction) was 7,900 TL. It was noted that in cases where there is usually only one person working in the family and there is no additional income, the wage income obtained is far from meeting the basic needs of the family and the inadequacy of wages is a matter of discussion.
The additional burden since the beginning of the year was 4,185 TL The additional burden on food expenditures compared to the beginning of the year was 4,185 TL, while the amount of expenditure required for all basic expenses increased by 13,633 TL in the last seven months.185 TL, while the amount of expenditure required for all basic expenditures has increased by 13,633 TL in the last seven months. In the current economic environment, the purchasing power of laborers is getting weaker day by day, and it is foreseen that workers and retirees will continue to be impoverished unless an amount worthy of human dignity is determined in income increases. The AKP government did not give an interim increase to the minimum wage this year, and due to the inflation data announced by TURKSTAT and root salary calculations, pensions, which are far below the hunger limit, were not given a high increase.