Ayşe Sibel Yankıömeroğlu from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has submitted a parliamentary proposal to investigate the impact of poverty on minors in Turkey and their living conditions, the T24 news website reported.
According to Yankıömeroğlu, Turkey ranks first among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in child and adolescent poverty, as the rapid rise in impoverishment in recent years has primarily affected the most vulnerable group: minors. Currently, one in five minors lives in poverty, with nearly 7 million impacted.
“Impoverishment is when people live below the hunger threshold and cannot access basic needs. With impoverishment comes malnutrition and a lack of access to proper housing, education and healthcare,” Yankıömeroğlu said. “Children and adolescents living in such conditions are more vulnerable to exploitation and crime.”
She urged Turkish lawmakers to not ignore the problems that come with poverty and to try to find sustainable solutions. “Rather than ignoring the problems, we [members of parliament] need to adopt a solution-oriented approach and develop effective social policies. We need to channel our efforts and address issues that exacerbate poverty, such as income inequality, unemployment and inflation in the cost of food,” Yankıömeroğlu said. “But before we can develop policies, we need a thorough investigation into how poverty is affecting the living conditions of minors.”
Recent studies have revealed that childhood poverty in Turkey is a pressing concern.
A report by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) revealed that nearly 10 million children are living in poverty across the country. The findings indicate that over 43 percent of youngsters aged 0-14 are living in poverty.
Another report by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) found that one-third of children in Turkey were living in poverty. With a child poverty rate of 33.8 percent, Turkey was ranked second worst after Colombia for the 2019-2021 period that the report based its data on.
Furthermore, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has warned that the rising price of food means that many low-income families have not been able to afford enough food for their children. A comparative study in 2024 by Mahir Polat, a CHP lawmaker, found that the cost of essential food items that would normally be in a school lunchbox had increased by at least 42 percent since 2023.
Turkish doctors said Increasing poverty has had detrimental effects on the physical development of children.
