Workers are left impoverished, the unemployed are starving

Workers are left impoverished, the unemployed are starving

NOT HOLDING UP

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) yesterday announced unemployment figures for January. The narrowly defined unemployment rate, announced by TÜİK as the official unemployment rate, was calculated at 8.1%. The broadly defined unemployment rate, which reflects the actual proportion of unemployed people, remained at its peak level of 29.9%.

According to TÜİK, the number of narrowly defined unemployed increased by 73,000 compared to the previous month, reaching 2,819,000. Narrowly defined unemployment was calculated at 6.6% for men and 11% for women. One of the most striking figures was the decline in employment.

In January, the number of employed persons decreased by 516,000 compared to the previous month to 31,953,000, while the employment rate decreased by 0.8 points to 47.9%. This rate was 65.3% for men and 30.9% for women.

The official labour force decreased by 443,000 people compared to the previous month, reaching 34,772,000 people, while the labour force participation rate decreased by 0.8 points to 52.1%. The labour force participation rate was 70.0% for men and 34.7% for women. According to official data, unemployment among young women was calculated at 19% and among young men at 14.3%.

BROAD DEFINITION OF CRISIS

The DİSK Research Centre (DİSK-AR) report revealed the unemployed that TÜİK did not count. According to DİSK-AR, the number of real unemployed people reached a massive 11 million 946 thousand. The two-year increase in the number of broadly defined unemployed people was 1.7 million, and the one-year increase was 577 thousand.

With the economic crisis, the number of people who had to work shorter hours despite wanting to work full-time also increased.

The number of people working less than 40 hours per week and wishing to work more if given the opportunity, i.e. those underemployed due to time constraints, rose from 3.4 million to 3.9 million in the last year, an increase of 464,000. 3.9 million people work less than 40 hours per week and want to work more.

According to DİSK-AR, 5.3 million people in the country want to work but cannot find a job. Those who can find work earn the minimum wage, while those who remain unemployed are left without income as they are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

The DİSK-AR report states, ‘Due to the stringent conditions for receiving unemployment benefits and the misuse of unemployment insurance resources, the vast majority of the unemployed are unable to receive unemployment benefits,’ noting that only 19.6% of officially unemployed people receive unemployment benefits. Accordingly, 80.4% of the unemployed did not receive benefits.

6 MILLION WOMEN UNEMPLOYED

According to the report’s findings, unemployment among women was higher than among men in all categories. This month, the highest category of unemployment continued to be broadly defined female unemployment at 39.3%. Among men, this rate was calculated at 24.2%. The difference between broad-based female unemployment and broad-based male unemployment was 15.1 points. According to DİSK-AR’s calculations, the number of women who are truly unemployed reached exactly 5 million 925.

HUNGER IS GROWING

While the unemployed are left in poverty, even those who are working cannot meet the minimum level of hunger. The increase in food prices is causing the crisis to affect low-income earners even more. The increase in food prices has led to a continuous rise in the poverty line. The increase in the most basic expenditure item, food, is pushing the poverty line to historic highs. Türk-İş shared the results of its hunger and poverty line survey, which it has been publishing regularly for 39 years. The poverty of wage earners has been revealed once again with data.

According to the research, the poverty line, which represents the monthly food expenditure required for a family of four living in Ankara to have a healthy, balanced and adequate diet, has risen to £32,365. When basic expenses such as housing, transport, education, health and clothing are added to food expenses, the poverty line for a family of four is calculated at 105,424 TL.

The rate of increase in food expenditure over the last 12 months was 38.76%, while the average annual increase was recorded as 39.43%. The total increase in food expenditure in the first two months of the year reached 7.37%. The cost of living for a single working person was calculated at 41,900 TL. This amount exceeded the minimum wage of 13,875 TL. The cost rose to exactly 1.5 times the minimum wage.

The minimum wage, which was raised to 28,075 TL at the beginning of the year, fell below each of these amounts. Accordingly, the minimum wage could only cover 87% of the poverty line. Based on this calculation, even a household that made no expenditures other than food in February went hungry for at least 5 days. A household with 2 adults working for the minimum wage could only reach half of the poverty line.

Food ınflatıon at a two-year hıgh

According to TEPAV, food inflation also reached a two-year high. The TEPAV Food Price Index (TEGE) rose by 6.74% in February 2026, marking the highest monthly food inflation in the last two years.

Annual food inflation was calculated at 33.8%. The Food Price Index (TEGE) data for February 2026, prepared by the Turkish Economic Policies Research Foundation (TEPAV), has been published.

The TEGE data for February pointed to a marked upward trend in food prices. In the fresh fruit and vegetable category, the products with the fastest price declines were cabbage, oranges and kiwis, while high increases were observed in the prices of other fresh pepper varieties, green peppers and courgettes.

For products other than fresh fruit and vegetables, the highest price increases were observed in cheddar cheese, butter, and ayran. Annual food inflation for the February 2026 period was calculated at 33.8% according to TEGE.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Çalışan yoksul, işsiz aç bırakıldı, published in BirGün newspaper on February 28, 2026.