Türkiye’de Yoksullukla İlgili Sosyal Politikalar: Bir Değerlendirme Çalışması

Abstract

In this research policies aimed at combating poverty in Turkey were carried out through the eyes of experts in the fields of policy development and implementation of poverty-related policies. In this context, in-depth interviews were conducted with bureaucrats, academicians, practitioners and politicians who are experts in the field of poverty policies by applying qualitative design interview form to the persons who have knowledge and opinion in the determination and implementation of poverty policies. With these evaluations, it was tried to shed light on how to develop policies to combat poverty. In the research, government programs in terms of policies to combat poverty, five-year development plans and legislation have been examined and policy indicators have been determined. As a qualitative data collection tool, 23 experts were interviewed using the semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. In line with the findings of the research, indicators, structure, purpose, effects on the target groups, adequacy and effectiveness of policies against poverty have been evaluated with the eyes of experts. In the light of these assessments, poverty alleviation policies in Turkey were discussed extensively and suggestions on the subject were presented concretely. In the study, participants emphasized that the struggle against poverty cannot be sustained only with social assistance, and that economic development, income distribution, tax and wage policies and education, health, vocational education and housing policies should be planned together with long term objectives as the struggle against poverty in the long term. According to the findings, poverty alleviation policies are mainly implemented through the social assistance in Turkey, social services area is not sufficiently taken into account. In parallel with the development of the concept of social rights over time, the participants stated that there was a mental transformation related to the rights-based implementation of the struggle against poverty and stated that it is necessary to change the legal legislation in this direction and enact the appropriate basic law as soon as possible in order to fully reflect this concept in the practices. In the existing structure, it has emerged that the policies aimed at combating poverty, carried out through multi-part, scattered and thematic target groups, can be implemented more effectively with the application of “minimum income support” and carried out on the right-based axis. In this research, the opinion that continuous support for the absolute poor and conditional support for the non-absolute poor should be based, was dominated, in order to carry out non-addictive policies.