Evaluation of public social assistance for the elderly in Turkey

Poverty has been a general problem of the society and a special problem of the elderly, encountered in every period of life from the past to the present. It has been observed that with the aging of the population, the ratio of the dependent population increases and the elderly poverty moves in the same direction. This situation has increased the importance of social assistance practices for the elderly. As a requirement of being a social state, Turkey has included social assistance practices in this duty. In this context, the importance of the study is to monitor the changes in the public social assistance practices for the elderly that have been implemented in Turkey since the 1960s. In this framework, the main problematic of the study is to determine how effective the public social assistance practices for the elderly in Turkey are, and to determine the positive and negative aspects of these practices. In this manner, the legal legislation and institutional structure were evaluated in order to determine the changes in the public social assistance practices for the elderly in Turkey in the historical process. In addition, qualitative research method and descriptive research methods were used. As a result of the study, it was seen that the public social assistance practices in Turkey contributed the most economically to the elderly individuals, but it was concluded that it was still insufficient in preventing elderly poverty. In addition, it has been determined that various abuses and grievances have been and may be experienced due to the gaps in the legislation. Keywords: Poverty, Elderly Poverty, Social Assistance, Turkey.