Millions of retirees are below the minimum wage

After the net minimum wage increased by 54.7 percent to 8,506 TL, millions of retirees remained well below this amount. Currently, the salaries of approximately 1.5 million retirees are rounded up to 3,500 lira, which is considered the lowest pension. It is also looking forward to whether this threshold will be changed in the new period. The unions of civil servants were excited when the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that they would be in the same understanding when determining the increase of civil servants and retirees. Memur-Sen Chairman Ali Yalçın, on social media right after Erdoğan’s speech, said: “The increase in the minimum wage should be an example, and other people on fixed incomes should also be protected. By 2023, the minimum wage was increased by 54.7 percent and set at 8,500 TL. This increase must be an example, the fear of inflation must end and the purchasing power of public officials must be increased for a fair distribution of income.

INFLATION DIFFERENCE

Under normal circumstances, civil servants and retirees will receive an increase of 8 percent at the beginning of the year, which consists of the inflation difference of the last 6 months. This corresponds to a rate of approximately 17-18 percent. With a 54.7 percent increase in the minimum wage, civil servants, retirees, and all employees expect their wages to rise, not around 18 percent, but at a rate similar to the minimum wage.