The increase of Turkey’s minimum wage to 17,002 lira ($575.31) per month from 1 January 2024 has ignited widespread criticism, falling short of not only the 44,573 lira poverty line, but also the 18,000 lira hunger threshold.
Mehmet Baran, a recently unemployed citizen in Diyarbakır (Amed), described the new wage as a “disgrace”, highlighting its inadequacy for housing and living costs. Salih Can, a retiree, predicts the wage’s diminishing value in just two months due to surging prices. İdris Güney warned of rising costs for basic services affecting all, particularly students. Halime Süren, who earns below the minimum wage, expressed her struggle with escalating living expenses.
Observers fear that this wage hike, impacting seven million workers, may exacerbate already high inflation, expected to reach 70-75 percent in early 2024.
The economic trend in Turkey shows a shift towards minimum wage dependency, with 38.4 percent of employees in 2022 earning near this level, up from 33.3 percent in 2002. Officially, more than 40 percent of the workforce earns minimum wage, a figure potentially reaching 50 percent when including unregistered workers, such as refugee and migrant workers, seasonal or daily wage labourers. Despite increases, Turkey’s minimum wage ranks low among European standards, contributing to widespread financial struggles.
Meanwhile, a man recently died by suicide in a shopping mall in Istanbul, shouting “I’m hungry, my children are hungry”. The man, who was reportedly unable to pay a debt of 15,000 Turkish lira (less than the declared minimum wage), climbed onto a railing and shouted his reasons for suicide before jumping.
