The path to salvation for retirees and a livable pension

The change in the understanding of politics and economics in our country after 1980 has also led to a change in the understanding of the social state. The economic approach of the 1980s quickly found its counterpart in politics. The import-substitution national industrialization model was replaced by a neoliberal economic and political approach under the guise of export-oriented industrialization, which aimed primarily at shrinking the state's role in the economy and placing the economic burden on wage earners, retirees, and the poor. By dismantling the social state in our country, this political and economic approach—called the free market economy—where the poor become poorer and the rich become richer, has rapidly placed this structure, which feeds on crisis and poverty, at the center of our politics and economy.

This approach has caused serious life-altering losses, most notably for wage earners and employees. The despair, loneliness, and loss of identity experienced by retirees have seriously damaged their ability to live as dignified citizens. It has caused retirees to experience physical and psychological problems for a long time and has led to a decline in their quality of life.

The most fundamental problem here is that, despite the existence of different political parties, they have all placed the neoliberal free market economy approach imposed by globalization at the center of their economic models, abandoning the concepts of planned development, public-oriented economy, and the social state.

While the concept of retirement was originally meant to mark the end of a person's working life, it has now turned into the end of their life. In other words, retirement has turned into a period where people fall into a state of crisis. While the pension accrual rate was at the level of 75 percent before 1999, this rate was later reduced to 65 percent. In 2008, it was reduced to 50 percent.

The pension accrual rate is currently at an average of approximately 30 percent. This is the main problem for retirees today. To correct the poverty situation of retirees, the pension accrual rate must be raised back to the 75 percent level. Alternatively, the lowest pension should be at the level of the minimum wage for retirees. In fact, since the minimum wage has been below the hunger threshold for a long time, a "Livable Wage" should be established instead. A livable wage must definitely be above the hunger threshold.

In reality, the solution to the retiree problem is not just a small raise in wages every year. It requires an adequate base pension, fair adjustment, balance between premiums and salaries, a welfare share, low inflation, and social support that reduces the basic expenses of retirees; in the short term, this includes free urban public transport for retirees, substantial support for electricity and natural gas, rent assistance, zero co-pay for essential medicines, and social market support.

Today, while the net minimum wage is 28,075.50 TL, the hunger threshold is 38,318 liras. To raise the lowest pension above the hunger threshold, first of all, informal employment must be prevented, wages other than those of civil servants must be fully declared, and social security funds must be evaluated with market interest rates.

The improvement made to the lowest pension must be reflected for all retirees. The Social Security Institution should only deal with the retirement and social security transactions of retirees. Premiums should be deposited to the tax office every month with the income tax return. Unpaid social security premiums must be tracked and collected by the Ministry of Finance. This is because there are serious delays and problems in the collection of social security premiums.

In the study we conducted, if social security premiums are fully declared and collected on time, and informal employment is prevented, the Treasury aid provided from the general budget to the Social Security Institution every month due to social security deficits would end, and our budget would not even run a deficit. When the budget does not run a deficit, there would be no borrowing for social security deficits, and therefore no interest burden on the budget. According to our Constitution, providing every retiree with a humane, dignified, and livable life is the primary and indispensable duty of the state.