Income distribution and poverty in Turkey: Sakarya province urban area sample

Income distribution states the distribution of national income that is created in a country in a certain period of time among the individuals, groups consisting of the individuals and the factors of production living in that country. The poverty also states the situation of that the incomes cannot be able to meet the minimum physical needs such as food and cloth. Securing the justice in income distribution and preventing the poverty is long term stressed issue in Turkey. Because the imbalance in distribution of income in developing countries and the fact of poverty are the basis of the social and economic problems. For instance, the fact that the most of the pie of national income is shared among the high income groups prevents that the prosperity is shared among the low income groups. Therefore, in order to ease this inequity the governments procure aid in kind, financial aid and social aids and the high income groups are taxed according to their profits. For example, financial aids that municipalities provided through social assistance and solidarity foundation and the high taxes levied from high income groups by the tax office are that kind of implementations. (such as with the changes done in Special Consumption Tax, the increases in tax rates of luxury consumption goods which are in the use of high income groups and the fact that their incomes correspond to high income tax bracket). Thus, this situation provides betterment in low-incomers? earnings and partial decrease in high incomers? earnings. It can be also learned through the facts and figures that are clarified by TUİK.In this study, primarily income distribution and poverty fact are discussed theoretically; size distribution of income and poverty fact in Turkey are examined in company with the tables; evaluations are made on the reflections of the policies carried out in Turkey. In the third section, this data are confronted with the survey conducted in Sakarya Province; in which distance the income of the inhabitants of Sakarya Province are and if the poverty fact exists or not are reviewed through tables. Then the relationships between the factors that affect the incomes of the households are checked over by the help of the comparative tables. It is determined that sixteen per thousand of the people of Sakarya are on the threshold of hunger which is higher than the rate of the individuals living on the breadline in Turkey according to the data of 2009(6 per thousand). Besides, the rate of the individuals living under the minimum wage are monitored as 4, 2 % (37 thousand person), the rate of the individuals living under the poverty line are monitored as 15, 4 % (99 thousand person). While this rate in Turkey is observed as 18, 08% which is higher than the rate of the poverty line in Sakarya Province.