Evaluation of social assistance policies working system and its effects: A case study of Igdır province rural area

Countries use public social assistance practices in the fight against poverty in accordance with their own cultural structure. In Turkey, basically, public social assistance is carried out through the municipalities and Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations. The existence of many problems (determination of aid programs, selection of benefit criteria, budget resources, announcement and archiving methods, etc.) regarding social assistance practices is included in the literature. In this study, it is aimed to examine the rural area public social assistance application and to reveal its failing aspects and to develop solution proposals. For this purpose, the social aid functioning system has been investigated. In addition, household assistance and income ratio and assistance benefit level have been calculated and effective factors have been determined. In this research, a questionnaire based on face-to-face interviews was conducted with two different target groups. The first group consists of households benefiting from public social assistance. The second group consists of the executives of the public social assistance system. Snowball sampling method was preferred for first group. 210 beneficiary surveys were conducted with households residing in rural areas and receiving social assistance within the provincial borders of Igdir. In addition, a total of 8 administrator surveys were conducted with the municipalities and Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations in Igdir city centre and its districts. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the socio-economic characteristics of the households benefiting from the assistance and the basic characteristics of the social assistance system. While multiple regression analysis was used to determine the factors affecting the household aid income ratio, ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors affecting the household social assistance benefit level. According to the research findings, 46,7% of the households benefiting from public social assistance are in the category of less need, 28,6% are in needy and 24,8% are in the very needy category. According to the results of the ordered logistic regression analysis; It was determined that the marital status of the household head, the number of individuals working in the household and the help group variables received by the household had a significant effect on the level of neediness of the household (p<0,01). It is of great importance and priority to bring at least one individual into working life by public assistance in order to save the households receiving aid from the trap of poverty. The variables of age of the household head, the district of residence and the status of the place of residence (neighbourhood/village) have no significant effect on the level of neediness (p>0,05). It has been determined that there is no need to differentiate the programs according to the districts in the aid programs prepared for the province of Igdir. Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations and municipalities are the main institutions that carry out public social assistance programs. According to the survey data conducted with social assistance administrators, it has been determined that there is insufficient coordination among public institutions that provide aid and there is a lack of legislation in local governments. While 95,2% of the beneficiaries are satisfied with the social assistance, only 17,1% find the social assistance sufficient. It has been seen that a common information system that can be used by Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations and municipalities is necessary. The inclusion of all public institutions and non-governmental organizations in this system will contribute to the healthier functioning of the country-wide public social assistance system. It is necessary to improve the payments according to the program types by examining the adequacy status of the aids. A guide document for the functioning of social assistance should be prepared and delivered by the relevant ministries to the district municipalities where there is a lack of legislation.