Worrying warning from social security expert on pensions: 'If an adjustment is not made...'
Pensions, which are eroding in the face of inflation, are seeing their purchasing power weaken further with each passing month. Millions of retirees, condemned to poverty-level wages, are forced to return to work just to make ends meet. An OECD report highlighted that income inequality among the population over 65 in Turkey is "very high."
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Social Security Expert Özgür Erdursun drew attention to the loss of value in pensions and issued significant warnings. Erdursun stated that there is an urgent need for an adjustment (intibak) in pension payments.
According to a 2023 report published by the OECD, Turkey ranks as the fifth country with the highest income inequality among the 38 countries examined. The report also states that pension increases in Turkey, driven by high inflation, quickly become insufficient.
Erdursun highlighted the magnitude of the risk with the words: "Pensions have lost their current value. Everyone knows this and is experiencing it. If an adjustment is not made to pension payments, the purchasing power of these pensions will fall even below their current level."
Erdursun continued his remarks as follows:
"Simply reflecting the six-month inflation difference announced by TUIK onto pensions is not working and will not work!
Why are pensions low? Because the government views retirees as a burden. They act as if they are giving retirees money for free, without having collected premiums from them for years."