Social aids as a social policy tool against poverty in Turkey: The role of social aids and solidarity foundations

Poverty is a complex social problem that is difficult to define precisely. However, it is a reality of all societies, regardless of their level of development. The extent of the problem varies depending on factors such as social, economic and political structures, geographical location and the effectiveness of policies implemented. Poverty, or in other words the divide between income groups, has become a growing problem in post-pandemic Turkey, as in the rest of the world, due to factors such as inadequate education, unemployment, the existence of an informal economy, inadequate social security, economic crises and inequitable income distribution. Combating poverty in Turkey requires both economic and social policies. The main cause of multidimensional poverty is unemployment. One of the fastest and most effective ways for unemployed individuals to escape from this situation is to support them with social assistance. For this reason, the effectiveness of social assistance programs to be carried out by the public authority is of great importance for unemployed individuals to get out of the social situations they will fall into. While effective and stable economic policies are needed to tackle structural problems, Turkey needs to strengthen the family institution and increase social welfare to reduce and prevent poverty. Permanent solutions in the field of social assistance and a fair distribution of income are also needed to prevent poverty. For this purpose, Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations operate in 81 provinces and 922 district centers of Turkey under the General Directorate of Social Assistance of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. Foundations are important institutions in the implementation of public social assistance. However, although they provide public services with public resources, their organization is not compatible with the modern social security system established by the welfare state to combat poverty and implement social policies. Foundations are established as private legal entities in accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Civil Code, each of which is a viii different business entity. Aid to be provided by foundations is decided by the foundation's board of trustees based on the needy threshold. The departure of foundations from objective criteria can lead to arbitrary decisions that are open to political influence and to different decisions despite providing the same services. Therefore, instead of combating poverty, it causes poverty to be kept at a sustainable level. Both social assistances provided by foundations and by other institutions cause individuals to get used to this situation instead of getting rid of poverty. In order to increase the effectiveness of Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations, it is necessary to eliminate the inadequacy of the institutional workforce, simplify the diversity of social assistance and increase the unit amounts of assistance. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the employment incentive program for social assistance beneficiaries provided by Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations at the national level, to improve cooperation, coordination and data sharing with institutions operating in this field, and to regulate legal regulations in accordance with the nature of the work performed. Therefore, all public institutions providing social assistance should be gathered under one roof. At the same time, there is a need for legal arrangements to be made to ensure that the private law legal personality of foundations is appropriate to the nature of the work and that social assistance is provided to the general masses for a limited period of time and to disadvantaged individuals who cannot participate in employment on a permanent basis. The aim of this study is to analyze the social assistance provided by Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations, which operate as a social policy tool in the fight against poverty in Turkey, and to examine the effectiveness of these institutions, which provide a public service, in the fight against poverty in Turkey. In this context, it was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness through observation, interview and document analysis using qualitative research method. In the qualitative data collection phase of the research, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies' annual activity reports, financial status and performance reports, Government Programs, Five-Year Development Plans, doctrine, legal regulations and intervention approaches within the scope of national legislation were examined to evaluate the historical process of the fight against poverty. KEY WORDS: Poverty, Fight Against Poverty, Social Assistance, Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations