Poverty and income inequality in Turkey

One of the most important goals of the states is to provide an equal and peaceful living environment for their citizens. In this context; various policies are implemented to increase the welfare of individuals. States face significant problems in the implementation of these policies. Poverty and inequality in income distribution may be seen as important historical problems. Poverty may be described as the inability to distribute the income earned within the country fairly. It leads to a decrease in social welfare and ultimately to economic and social problems. This thesis discusses primarily the poverty and income distribution issues theoretically and draws an academic framework for the types and measurements of these concepts. The main purpose of the thesis is to address the dimension of these two concepts in Turkey. In this context, the data on the poverty profile and income distribution in Turkey has been examined and the current situation has been interpreted in light of the results. The analysis of the situation in Turkey was based on the parameters of the poverty and income distribution indices which suggested that poverty and income inequality are long standing issues that need to be focused on in terms of social welfare. Effective, holistic and sustainable policies should be developed for these arease, since the data provided by domestic and international institutions show that the improvement in the income distribution and poverty indices is limited in Turkey and the currently implemented policies are insufficient.