Economic hardship in Turkey impacts retirees and increases child labor

Economic difficulties in Turkey are impacting a wide range of the population, including retirees and minimum wage earners. Burhan Kılıç, the Malatya Provincial Chairman of the Yeniden Refah Party, stated that recent salary increases for retirees and civil servants have failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living. He noted that inflation, rising rents, and increasing prices for basic goods are rapidly eroding the purchasing power of citizens.

In a related development regarding the social consequences of poverty, Mehmet Ektaş, President of the Association for Justice, Law and the Ideal of Parliamentary Democracy (AHPADİ), highlighted the increasing visibility of child labor in Eskişehir. Ektaş attributed the rise in child labor to high income inequality and widespread poverty. He reported that approximately 39 percent of children in Turkey, totaling about 7 million, live in poverty. He further noted that economic desperation, lack of access to quality education, and certain government policies contribute to children being utilized as cheap, unprotected labor.