Raising a child on minimum wage...

The back-to-school rush has begun in households with children. Parents who do not want to leave clothing and stationery shopping until the last week have slowly started hitting the markets and shops. While private university tuition fees seem set to strain even the upper-middle class, the expenses for low-income families sending their children to public schools are also enough to burn a hole in their pockets...

A few days ago in Kartal, I shared in the troubles of a mother I met in passing who is trying to raise her 14-year-old daughter on a minimum wage. The mother, who said she was out shopping for clothes for her daughter, who is in the eighth grade at a public school, was complaining about the prices. She said that because the child grows every year, the school trousers, t-shirts, tracksuits for physical education, socks, and underwear she has to buy cost between 3,000 and 3,500 TL. This expense does not include shoes and coats, as those are the most expensive items. She emphasized that she also buys 12 notebooks every year, and that stationery costs, including pens, a pencil case, and a backpack, are at least around 2,000 TL. The issue she complained about the most is the cost of lunch, fruit juice, and snacks for her child, who is at school from 08:40 to 15:00. It amounts to a daily cost of 50-80 TL. Moreover, she feels that despite this money, her child is not eating healthily at all.

This year, as her daughter prepares for high school, her greatest joy has been the LGS preparation course opened at the Kartal Yalı-Yunus-Topselvi Culture Center. "If it weren't for that course opened by the municipality, an annual course expense of around 30,000 TL would have been added," she says. The last question I asked before we parted ways in our brief chat was about her daughter's social activities. After all, she is a 14-year-old young girl, and it is her most natural right to want to go out, walk around, and travel on weekends. "She usually plays in the park because she knows how expensive it is to go out," her mother replied... She also mentioned the sports courses opened by the municipality, where she plays volleyball from time to time. "We go to a burger joint, though very rarely," she said. She added before I even asked; their house rent is 6,000 TL, and it will be 10,000 TL this November. Don't even ask what is left for the house, food, and the kitchen... The mother and daughter manage for a week with a single pack of chicken. Of course, scarcity, poverty, and impossibility existed in every government era, but it seems there is no segment that has not been crushed by high inflation...

Because she said, "Please tell our troubles, share them," I felt it was my duty as a mother to write this. Ultimately, the monthly salary disappears, and one minimum wage is not enough even for one child...

The problems are, of course, not limited to those preparing for high school; there are other issues for those preparing for university or those already attending university. Those with children in the 8th grade have already started planning courses or private tutoring for high school preparation, and those in high school for university preparation. Private tutoring centers (dershaneler) were closed, but this need and demand still persist. Study centers or courses have taken the place of these centers. Everyone chooses one according to their own budget. The fact that municipalities offer course opportunities at this point is like an oasis in the desert...

However, as it turns out, the most critical problem this period is finding a dormitory. Just as house rents and maintenance fees (aidat) have increased, so have dormitory fees. Therefore, the eyes and hearts of parents are set on the dormitories opened by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality... When you look at the troubles experienced by parents on the eve of schools opening, you see once again how important social municipalism is during this period.

The minimum wage earner does not care about roads, bridges, airports being built, or that going on vacation has become very expensive... In a society where approximately 40 percent of employees are on minimum wage, it would be enough if daily needs were met and life were made easier... In a period when high inflation hurts so much, one of the reasons why the nation gave its vote to the CHP at the local level is precisely this social municipalism, the opportunities provided, and the city management that makes life easier... The opportunities offered by local governments, especially for children and young people, are more important and urgent than anything else. We can even call them vital.