THE MANY FACES OF POVERTY: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS ON MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY IN TÜRKİYE

Abstract

Although poverty statistics serve as crucial economic and social indicators, their measurement varies depending on the chosen definition of poverty. This study examines whether poverty estimations in Türkiye significantly differ based on the definition used and explores which concept of poverty is most appropriate. Utilizing the SILC micro datasets from 2014 to 2021, the study estimates two absolute poverty measures, a subjective poverty measure, and a multidimensional poverty measure. The findings reveal that poverty rates are highly sensitive to the definition applied. For instance, while the updated absolute poverty line from TurkStat identifies less than 20% of the population as poor, the subjective poverty line and the absolute poverty line defined by TÜRK-İŞ classify approximately 60% and 70% of the population as poor, respectively. Furthermore, while 43% of the population was considered multidimensionally poor in 2014, this figure declined to 31% in 2021. A significant concentration of poverty is observed in the Southeastern and Eastern regions across all measurement approaches. Finally, the study conducts a comparative analysis of various poverty definitions by examining trends in poverty rates, the overlap of poor households, regional rankings, pairwise correlations, and the demographic profile of individuals living in poverty.

Keywords

• poverty measures
• absolute poverty
• multidimensional poverty
• subjective poverty
• regional poverty

YOKSULLUĞUN BİRÇOK YÜZÜ: TÜRKİYE'DEKİ YOKSULLUĞUN ÖLÇÜMÜ ÜZERİNE KAPSAMLI BİR ANALİZ

Abstract

Yoksulluk istatistikleri en önemli ekonomik ve sosyal göstergelerdendir. Ancak yoksulluk ölçümleri yoksulluğun nasıl tanımlandığına bağlı olarak değişebilir. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye'de yoksulluk ölçümlerinin seçilen tanıma göre önemli ölçüde farklılık gösterip göstermediği ve hangi yoksulluk kavramının en uygun olduğu araştırılmaktadır. 2014-2021 yılları arasındaki SILC mikro veri setlerini kullanarak, iki mutlak yoksulluk ölçümü, bir öznel yoksulluk ölçümü ve bir çok boyutlu yoksulluk ölçümü yapılmıştır. Analiz sonuçları yoksulluk oranlarının kullanılan tanıma oldukça duyarlı olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Örneğin, TÜİK'in güncellenmiş mutlak yoksulluk sınırı kullanıldığında nüfusun %20'sinden azı yoksul olarak tanımlanırken, öznel yoksulluk sınırı ve TÜRK-İŞ'in yoksulluk sınırı kullanıldığında sırasıyla nüfusun yaklaşık %60'ı ve %70'i yoksul olarak tespit edilmektedir. Ayrıca, 2014 yılında nüfusun %43'ü çok boyutlu yoksul iken, bu oran 2021'de %31'e düşmüştür. Tüm ölçümler yoksulluğun Güneydoğu ve Doğu Anadolu bölgelerinde yoğunlaştığını göstermektedir. Son olarak, bu çalışma, yoksulluk oranlarındaki eğilimleri, yoksul hanelerin kesişimini, bölgesel sıralamaları, ikili korelasyonları ve yoksulluk içinde yaşayan bireylerin demografik profillerini inceleyerek farklı yoksulluk tanımlarının karşılaştırmalı bir analizini sunmaktadır.

Keywords

• Yoksulluk ölçümleri
• mutlak yoksulluk
• çok boyutlu yoksulluk
• subjektif yoksulluk
• bölgesel yoksulluk

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