Economic crisis hits 99% of Turkish people: Poll

A staggering 99% of the Turkish population has been adversely affected by the ongoing economic crisis, with a significant portion resorting to borrowing to meet their basic needs, a recent study conducted by the Socio-Political Field Research Center showed on Wednesday.

The study, titled "The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Purchasing Power and Access to Basic Necessities," involved 988 participants from 15 cities and the data collected paints a bleak picture of the economic hardships faced by a wide cross-section of Turkish society.

One of the most striking findings of the research is that a substantial 74.3% of participants hold higher education degrees, yet 25% of them lack any form of social security, and 9.6% have no one in their households contributing to income generation. Additionally, nearly a quarter of the respondents reported monthly incomes below 11,400 Turkish Lira.

The economic crisis has had a profound impact on employment, with 46.7% of respondents indicating that someone in their household had become unemployed in the past year. A majority of those affected reported that a single family member had lost their job, while 25.8% said that two individuals within their households were now unemployed.

When asked how the recent economic crisis was affecting them personally, the participants responded as follows:

75.6% stated that the crisis was having a "very negative" impact.
23.4% said it was having a "negative" impact.
Only 0.4% claimed it was not affecting them.
A mere 0.2% stated that it had "no impact."
Furthermore, 98% of respondents believed that their purchasing power had decreased over the past year.

A striking revelation from the study was that more than half of the participants had resorted to borrowing money in the past year, with 40% of them specifically citing "basic necessities," "paying off other debts," and "insufficient income for living expenses" as the primary reasons for taking out loans.

A grim financial reality emerged as 93% of respondents admitted that their income did not cover their expenses, while only 6.8% reported that their income was sufficient to meet their financial obligations. Moreover, a mere 34.1% of participants claimed they did not require support from family or relatives to access basic necessities, underscoring the financial strain experienced by many.