4 million citizens will need help
Following the economic policies implemented in Turkey, while the population equalized in poverty, the number of people needing assistance also increased. The electricity bill assistance provided by the Ministry of Family and Social Services to low-income people has also increased exponentially. The Ministry provided electrical assistance to 1 million 343 thousand 109 homes in 2019. In 2020, 1 million 659 thousand 448 homes were supported. In 2022, the number of households receiving electrical assistance increased to 2,719,745. This figure was expected to decrease this year and electrical assistance was planned to be provided to 1,944,524 households. However, the plan did not work, the number of families in need of electrical assistance multiplied and amounted to 3 million 685 thousand homes. The goal for 2024 is 4 million 53 thousand 500, the estimate for 2025 is 4 million 60 thousand and the estimate for 2026 is 4.1 million homes. In this context, the “electricity consumption support” data revealed poverty in Turkey.
POVERTY IS INCREASE
The Ministry of Family and Social Services spent 62 thousand 742 million 374 thousand 899 TL in 2022 to combat poverty and social assistance. The allocation for 2023 was 91 billion 582 million 780 thousand TL. The government allocated 205 billion 861 million 822 thousand TL to the fight against poverty in 2024. In 2025, 213 billion 378 million 802 thousand TL will be spent and in 2026, 246 billion 413 million 207 thousand TL will be spent to fight poverty.
200 thousand children will be affected
The number of children benefiting from the financial support provided by the Ministry of Family and Social Services to children “who cannot be cared for by their families and who have difficulty maintaining their lives even at a low level” has also increased. Although 129,422 children benefited from this support in 2020, the figure increased to 157,248 in 2022. It was expected that by 2023 there would be 155,000, but support was provided to 170,000 children. It is planned to support 190,000 children next year. While the estimate for 2025 was 200 thousand, the estimate for 2026 reached 210 thousand.