Turkey has distributed aid to 3 million people in 2014

Meltem Özgenç ANKARA

In 2013, Turkey spent 21.3 billion Turkish Liras on social aid, while in 2014 this increased to more than 26.5 billion liras, according government data.

Almost 3 million families across Turkey have received social aid in 2014, according to data announced by Family and Social Policies Minister Ayşenur İslam yesterday during discussions of the ministry’s budget in Ankara.

The number of elderly and people with disabilities who are receiving aid is 1.2 million, while the number who have a social card is 1.7 million, according to the data. The minister also said  the ministry had provided education about marriage to 137,601 couples who decided to get married.

In 2013, Turkey spent 21.3 billion Turkish Liras on social aid, while in 2014 this increased to more than 26.5 billion liras, said İslam.

There is no Turkish citizen who has an income of less than one dollar a day after recent increases to the budget, she said.

 “The rate of those who spend less than 4.3 dollars per day was 30 percent in 2002, while this rate has decreased to 2.27 percent today. Between 2002 and 2012, the rate of those who spend less than 2.15 dollars per day decreased from 3.04 percent to 0.06 percent,” said İslam.

The family minister also gave details about the situation of children and women in the country.
There are 46,067 women and 22,947 children staying at shelter houses, places allocated for women and children who are exposed to domestic violence or assault from close relatives, according to the data in October 2014.

There are two shelter houses for male victims, one in Istanbul and one in İzmir.

Meanwhile, 96,000 women whose son or husband served their compulsory military service and are in need, are paid 250 liras monthly. A total of 285 women who lost their husbands and have no income are being paid 250 monthly. The unemployment pension is paid to 44,000 people.

Meanwhile, some children who stayed at orphanages have returned to their homes after their parents were paid by the state for the cost of their children. As of September 2014, around 57,000 families are paid 540 liras on a monthly basis for taking care of their children in their own home. In the past two years, 10,350 children have been returned to their home because of the recent measures. The number of children who stay with a protecting family or who are adopted has also increased.

The number of adopted children was 6,976 in 2002 while this number increased to 13,300 in 2014.

Apart from the ministry’s budget, municipalities also oversee the distribution of aid. The Ankara Municipality distributes coal to around 90,000 families as well as other forms of aid, such as food, clothing, education materials and cleaning materials for households.