Economic crisis in Turkey after 1980 and their effects on social policy practices: A review on social policy practices in the field of education

Economic crisis is a phenomenon that creates serious problems for society in the short and long term and negatively affects social welfare. These negativities caused by economic crises affect society in many ways and produce remarkable results. Therefore, it is of great importance to examine the problems caused by economic crises and develop policy recommendations accordingly. There have been various crises in the Turkish economy since the first years of the Republic, and stabilization measures have been taken after each crisis. In this study, the effects of the economic crises experienced in the Turkish economy after 1980 on social policy practices are examined. The main reason for focusing on the post-1980 crises in the study is the fragile structure that emerged from the transformation process in the Turkish economy after the decisions of January 24, 1980. With this period, when structural adjustment policies were implemented and open and free market economy-based practices were initiated, the economy began to transform towards integration with the global economy, on the one hand, and on the other hand, it became increasingly vulnerable to external shocks. This situation naturally increased the economic and social dimensions of the crises. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate economic crises in terms of social policy practices. Social policy practices include measures and interventions aimed at increasing and/or redistributing wealth. In general, these practices take place in areas such as education, health, social security, social services and employment. However, the study focuses on education among these topics and tries to determine what kind of developments there were in expenditures and investments on education during the economic crisis periods after 1980. In general, the results show that expenditures on education in Turkey are not very high compared to OECD countries, and the resources allocated from the state budget are kept at a certain level without being directly affected by crises. Accordingly, the necessity of primarily increasing the resources allocated to education, on the other hand, accelerating efforts to solve the structural problems of the Turkish economy, making the economy more resilient, and strengthening the relations between education and employment comes to the fore.