Assessing poverty and related factors in Turkey

Croat Med J. 2007 Oct;48(5):628-35.

Abstract

Poverty, a complex, multidimensional, and universal problem, has been conceptualized as income and material deprivation. In this article, we discuss poverty and related factors in Turkey. The absolute poverty line for Turkey was US$ 4 per capita per day. Turkey was ranked 92nd out of 177 countries with moderate human development in the 2006 Human Development Report. The individual food poverty rate was 1.35% and the non-food poverty rate was 25.6%. The highest poverty rate was among primary school graduates (42.5%; 38.5% for women and 46.8% for men). The rate for this group was higher in urban than in rural areas. Among poor people, 57.2% were married. The highest poverty rate was among agricultural workers (46.6%) and in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. Factors related to poverty were crowded households, unemployment, immigration, working for a daily wage in the agricultural and construction sector, low educational status, female sex or married status, lacking social insurance, and living in rural areas or in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Causality
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Culture
  • Educational Status
  • Emigration and Immigration / statistics & numerical data
  • Employment / statistics & numerical data
  • Family Characteristics
  • Female
  • Food Supply / statistics & numerical data
  • Health Status
  • Humans
  • Income / statistics & numerical data
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Poverty / statistics & numerical data*
  • Pregnancy
  • Rural Population / statistics & numerical data
  • Sex Distribution
  • Turkey / epidemiology
  • Urban Population / statistics & numerical data