With the minimum wage, you can feed yourself for 9 days

Economy Service

As the palace regime condemns millions to hunger, the United Metalworkers’ Union’s Class Research Centre (BİSAM) revealed striking data on the impact of the minimum wage, announced for the first time below the hunger threshold, on purchasing power.

According to the report published under the title “Living on the Minimum Wage Survey”, a minimum wage earner with a non-working spouse and two children will be able to allocate only 267 lira a day for food from the wage of 28,075 TL they will receive in February. This means 89 TL per person for three meals a day for a family of four and only 22 TL per meal.

The share a minimum wage earner can allocate to food is only 8,000 lira. Accordingly, a minimum wage earner can feed themselves for only 9 days with the income they earn.

WAGES WILL GO TO RENT AND FOOD

While the average rent nationwide (for an 80-square-metre flat) is 18,400 lira, with their new income the minimum wage earner can allocate 9,329 TL to total housing expenditure (housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels) and 6,873 TL to rent.

One of the most striking headings in the research was housing expenditure. The report underlined that this situation forces minimum wage earners to live in unhealthy homes that carry earthquake risk and lack urban amenities.

ALMOST NO EDUCATION SPENDING

The budget a minimum wage earner can allocate for their children’s education is almost negligible.

According to the report, monthly education spending per child remains at only 67 TL. It is stated that it is not possible to cover even stationery costs with this amount and that minimum wage earners are forced to send their children to schools that lack resources. Figures such as 10 TL for cultural activities, 34 TL for entertainment and 78 TL for books and newspapers show the impossibility of taking part in social life. The report also noted that the blue card fee in İstanbul for 2025 is 2,748 TL and recorded that the total amount a minimum wage earner can allocate for transport for their whole family is 2,838 TL.

It is seen that 533 TL can be allocated for health spending and 1,174 TL for clothing and footwear.

IT SHOULD BE WORTHY OF HUMAN DIGNITY

BİSAM’s report stressed that the minimum wage is more than just a figure and should ensure a living standard worthy of human dignity. Drawing attention to injustice in income distribution, it emphasised that workers are left with lower wages and harsher living conditions despite economic growth and increases in productivity. It called for the minimum wage to be set at a level that meets basic needs. The minimum wage, effective from 1 January, had been announced as 28,075 lira with a 27% increase.

PRICES ROSE BY 1,953% IN 8 YEARS

In Turkey, which remains far ahead at the top in food inflation, a price comparison in supermarkets laid bare the rising cost of living. According to data in which economist Mahfi Eğilmez compared a price leaflet from March 2017 with today’s prices, prices rose by up to 20 times over 8 years. According to Eğilmez’s calculation, the average increase rate across 22 products over 8 years was 1,953%. While the 22 products amounted to 297.07 TL in March 2017, today they amount to 6,100 TL.

According to the prices in the supermarket whose name Eğilmez did not disclose, the highest rise was in yoghurt at 3,900%. It was followed by organic tomato paste at 3,454% and 1 litre of sunflower oil at 3,118%. According to the list, the increase in rice was 2,368%.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Asgariyle 9 gün karın doyurulabilir, published in BirGün newspaper on December 30, 2025.