Inflation for school lunchboxes revealed: 'One in every 4 children...'
As the 2024-2025 academic year approaches, families are busy preparing stationery and filling school lunchboxes. The cost of filling a lunchbox has increased by 102 percent.
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The 21 million students in primary and secondary education institutions under the Ministry of National Education will begin the 2024-2025 academic year on September 9.
According to a report by Cem Yıldırım from Sözcü; however, filling children's lunchboxes will be 102 percent more expensive compared to last year. While it cost 330 TL to fill a lunchbox last year, at least 669 TL will be needed this year.
In Turkey, where millions of families are trying to get by on a minimum wage of 17,002 TL, and where the hunger threshold has reached 19,234 TL and the poverty threshold has reached 62,652 TL according to Türk-İş, the opening of schools will strain the budgets of families, especially those with low incomes, regarding their children's lunchboxes.
LUNCHBOXES ARE NOW A LUXURY
According to calculations made by CHP İzmir Deputy Mahir Polat, the price of items that should be in a lunchbox has increased by at least 42 percent in one year. A parent who wants to put 1 banana in their child's lunchbox needs to spend 20 TL, paying 81.82 percent more compared to last year. The price of another popular fruit, the apple, has become 66.67 percent more expensive in one year.
Cheese in a student's lunchbox has increased by 79.31 percent in one year, milk by 72.19 percent, eggs by 62.50 percent, and olives by 59.68 percent. The price of a lunchbox, which was 199 TL last year, has increased by 126 percent this year to reach 450 TL. Thus, the expenditure required to fill a lunchbox has increased by 102.73 percent compared to last year, rising from 330 TL to 669 TL. Mahir Polat also reminded that the government, far from supporting families, has cut lunch support for 5 million students, stating, "The lunchbox has now become a luxury."
'ONE IN EVERY 4 CHILDREN GOES TO SCHOOL HUNGRY'
Due to rising poverty, one in every 4 children goes to school hungry. Drawing attention to food inflation, CHP Deputy Mahir Polat asked, "One in every 4 children in Turkey goes to school hungry. Compared to last year, the prices of products placed in students' lunchboxes have at least doubled. Today, while the cost of just a student's lunch reaches 1,500 TL per month, how can a minimum wage earner with 2 children cover these expenses?"