ILKE Foundation’s latest report titled The Society’s View: Turkish Society by Statistical Data and the website sosyalveri.net both part of The Society’s View project were launched and presented before the audience in an event that was held at Mercure Hotel Altunizade on March 29, 2022.

The report offers an overview of the contemporary situation of the Turkish society in several areas from education to law, and from culture to economy. The report also makes mention of the major social issues Turkey has faced in the recent decade precisely, 2010-2020.

The project team included Prof. Dr. Lutfi Sunar and a team of researchers from ILKE foundation’s Research Center for Social Thought and Policy (TODAM) including Melike Tozlu, Büşra Özen, Meryem Beyza Gümüşsoy and Muhammet Gazali Kılınç. This team of researchers jointly created a source platform which consists of 12 main categories and encompasses more than 75 topics regarding social issues. In addition to the published report, the socialveri.net website, which contains indicators and analyzes on various issues in Turkey, has been opened for the public and policy makers. On sosyalveri.net which serves as a basic source platform for those interested, one can find indicators and analyzes on a number of social issues pertaining to Turkish society.

Turkey's Social Data Platform is Open Now!

The Social Data Platform, available on sosyalveri.net, includes up-to-date graphics, data and analyzes on various social issues mainly pertaining to years 2010-2020. Datasets compiled from national and international statistical sources on several social issues such as economy and finance, business life, welfare and inequalities, cultural life, health services, education services are available on the platform. Thus, users will be able to get a bird's-eye view of Turkish society through reviews in which various issues are analyzed based on more than 250 graphics.

Tendencies of Precarization and Proletarianization are showing a Rising Trend

According to the report, the rate of self-employed people in Turkey has decreased over the years. Along with certain changes in the economic sphere, it is seen that there has been a transformation in the types of earnings.  As the data in the report indicates; the rate of waged, salaried or casual employees has a rising trend in Turkey.  Reviews in the report mainly draw attention to the fluctuations in the share of occupational groups in employment and basic changes in the working patterns both of which lead to the increase in proletarianization in Turkey.

Income Inequality Seems to Increase

Many economic indicators from gender-based wage inequalities to household debts are examined under a number of headings in the report. According to the data in hand, the gender pay gap has increased over time in Turkey. Additionally, findings in the report draw attention to the fact that in 2020, the richest 1% of people in Turkey held 42.8% of the total wealth. Therefore, income inequality as a major social problem seems to have deepened over the years. Since the average monthly expenditure of households living on a single minimum wage exceeds the household income, an increase in household debt rates has been observed in recent years.

GDP per capita & Household Purchasing Power Decreased

According to the report; since 2016, due to the economic contraction, GDP per capita in Turkey has been below the world average. As stated in the reviews in the report, despite the fact that average disposable income of households has increased, rising inflation and exchange rates have caused the annual incomes to depreciate. Consequently, purchasing power of households seems to have decreased due to the higher inflation rates in Turkey.

Transformation in Demographic Structure

The report provides detailed information on the demographic profile of Turkish society. In the light of the basic findings, it is claimed that the family and population structure in Turkey is in the process of a critical transformation. Accordingly, elderly dependent ratio is increasing, the birth rate and fertility rate are decreasing, and the aging trend of the population is becoming widespread in Turkey. Reviews specifically emphasize that young population’s share has shown a decreasing trend in the last 10 years. Also, it is stated that both the number of young people receiving education and the youth unemployment rate have increased. Finally, by evaluating the changing demographic characteristics together with the transformations in other areas, it is asserted that changes in the household structure continue as the household size is under an decreasing trend.

The project's website is accessible at www.sosyalveri.net