(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, APRIL 24 - While Turkey marked National
Sovereignty and children's Day all over the country on Thursday,
a recent official report has revealed that child poverty still
remains an alarming concern, with 32.4% of the minors in Turkey
classified as poor as daily Today's Zaman reports.
According to data released by the Turkish Statistics
Institute (TurkStat), the number of individuals under the age of
17 in Turkey was 22.8 million at the end of 2014, accounting for
29.4% of the total population of 77.7 million. Out of 22.8
million children, however, 7.4 million were recorded as living
in poverty. Given that there were 16.7 million poor individuals
according to TurkStat, the figure implies that almost half of
poor people are minors.
A survey published in April of last year by the Bahcesehir
University Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM)
revealed a bleaker picture, as it reported that two out of every
three children in Turkey are at risk of poverty based on
European Union standards. To be considered to be at risk of
poverty by the EU, one must lack access to four out of nine
specific items. These items include living in a heated home, the
ability to eat meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent once every
two days and to afford a washing machine at home, according to
BETAM's report. (ANSAmed).
