No allowance for the unemployed, many incentives for employers
According to official statements, although the number of unemployed is decreasing, applications for unemployment allowance are increasing. Young unemployed people are in the first place in applying for the allowance, only 41 per cent of the applications were accepted. Unemployment Fund, however, flowed to support employers.
While the official number of unemployed decreased, the increase in the number of applicants for unemployment allowance reached remarkable dimensions. The majority of the unemployed cannot benefit from unemployment allowance. The resources of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, which has turned into an employer support fund, are transferred to employers under the name of incentives and support.
According to the data of İŞKUR, the number of applicants for unemployment allowance in the January-March period increased by 47 thousand 287 people compared to the same period of the previous year and reached 454 thousand 826 people. Only 48 per cent of the applicants, 219 thousand 116 unemployed people, were entitled to the allowance.
Young people constituted the biggest majority among those who applied for unemployment allowance. It was announced that 21 out of every 100 people who wanted to receive unemployment allowance were young unemployed in the 25-29 age group. Only 40 thousand 787 out of 99 thousand 333 applicants in this age group could benefit from the allowance.
FUND FLOWS TO EMPLOYERS
While more than half of the applicants for unemployment allowance cannot benefit from the allowance, the Unemployment Insurance Fund is the target of criticism due to the misuse of its resources. The April bulletin of the Unemployment Insurance Fund published by İŞKUR reveals where the fund's resources are used. Accordingly, in the January-April period, 24 billion 541 million liras of resources were used for unemployment allowance from the fund with a total expenditure of 77 billion 572 million liras. In the same period, 26 billion 715 million liras were transferred to employers under the name of incentive and support payments.
Only in April, 2 billion 759 million liras were spent from the fund for unemployment allowance payments, while 5 billion 655 million liras were transferred to employers under the name of support.
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NUMBER OF PENSIONERS INCREASED BY 146 THOUSAND
According to İŞKUR data, 13 thousand 300 people over the age of 55 applied for unemployment benefit. In the same age group, 86 thousand 430 people are waiting to find a job at İŞKUR. 4 thousand 491 of these people have been registered as unemployed for more than a year. According to the data of SSI, the number of retired people increased by 146 thousand 495 people compared to the end of 2024 and reached 16 million 824 thousand people. The number of retirees registered with the SSI was 2 million 97 thousand people.
Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled İşsize ödenek yok, işverene teşvik çok, published in BirGün newspaper on May 13, 2025.
