One-third of children live in materially deprived households in Turkey

A new report from the Bahçeşehir University Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM) has revealed that in 2014 over 7 million children lived in households which suffered from severe material deprivation in Turkey, the Hurriyet Daily News reports. 

Some 36 percent of children between the ages of 0-15 suffered from the effects of material deprivation in Turkey in 2014, making the country the worst across Europe. Turkey was followed by Romania and Hungary with 32 percent and 31.7 percent, respectively, according to the research. Although Greece and Portugal faced serious debt crises in 2014, the material deprivation rates among children were measured at 23.3 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively, in these countries. The lowest child poverty was seen in northern European countries, as the rate was just around 1.2 percent in Sweden, 1.5 percent in Iceland and 1.5 percent in Norway, according to the report, which was released on April 21.

“Although Turkey has showed a better performance in terms of national income per capita and general economic outlook than several European countries, the highest volume of material deprivation among children was seen in Turkey,” said the report.

The situation worsened in the eastern parts of Turkey, as the highest number of children in severe poverty lived in the Mediterranean region, Northeastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia, according to the research.

Three of every four children lived in families who could not even take a one-week vacation every year, said the report, while some 40 percent of the children were not able to have their protein needs from red meat, chicken meat or fish met in 2014.

“Turkey needs more effective social policies to fight against child poverty,” said the report.