Article

This is an article I received from PAWI - Professional American Women in Istanbul, and I think the statistics come from the World Bank. Anyway, thought you might be interested:

NEWS RELEASE

Economic Crisis Affecting the Welfare of Families in Turkey

A new survey of households in Turkey’s five largest urban centers
shows how families are affected by the economic slowdown and how they
cope to make ends meet in difficult times.

Istanbul, September 2009 - The economic slowdown, through lower
incomes and higher unemployment, has affected the lives of the
majority of families in the five largest urban centers in Turkey:
Adana, Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, and Kocaeli. Almost three quarters of
families report reductions in income between October 2008 and June
2009, according to a new survey of 2100 households, jointly sponsored
by TEPAV, UNICEF and the World Bank.

“Unemployment is the most visible impact of the economic crisis in
Turkey. Yet, even many workers who have held on to their jobs have
seen their income fall, especially informal and self-employed
workers,” said Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Country Director for Turkey.
“Moreover, falling incomes have hit the urban poor most frequently:
among the poorest 20 percent of urban families, nine out of ten say
that they have had to find ways to cope with lower incomes.”

Urban families adjust to lower earnings in various ways. Families
mostly buy cheaper food and non-food items, but they also try to
economize on the amount of food consumption. Reducing expenditures for
social events, producing their own food, and changing transportation
also feature prominently. At the time of the survey, one third had
fallen behind in utility payments, and nine percent had lost their
electricity connection, at least temporarily. By contrast, families
appear to protect what they spend on education and health as much as
possible.

“The survey shows the many different ways that families try to deal
with the consequences of the crisis,” said Reza Hosseini, Resident
Representative of UNICEF Turkey. “Among the poorest 20 percent of
urban families, almost half of the parents reported that they had to
reduce food consumption for their children. Monitoring closely whether
such economic stress continues for these poor families will be a
priority.”

Many poor urban families say they have mobilized support from
neighbors, friends, family, their community, and public programs to
make ends meet. Yet, in-depth interviews with some families reveal
that these support networks are stretched. About one-fifth of the
poorest families say they have been left without any support at all.

“The survey provides much information about the impact of the economic
slowdown on Turkish families,” said Güven Sak, Managing Director of
TEPAV. “It shows that there is a need for dialogue among Government,
civil society, universities and the general public alike as to what
social policies could best support impacted households in these
times.”

Please click for report summary and urban household micro dataset
(SPSS) or visit www.worldbank.org.tr