Abstract
In this chapter The EU's 2020 Objectives concerning social exclusion and poverty and Turkey's vision on social exclusion and poverty based on tenth development plan and Justice and Development Party's 2023 vision is dealt. The EU has developed a growth strategy named “EU 2020” in 2010. The objective concerning social exclusion and poverty of this strategy is to rescue as much EU citizens as possible from social exclusion and poverty and decreasing the number of EU citizens who live under poverty line by 20%. Although Turkey is not officially obliged to follow goals stated in EU 2020 objectives, it is integral for Turkey to pursue those principles in order to be harmony with the EU and reach her final aim of being a member of the EU.
TopPoverty As A Social Phenomenon
It is possible to mention about poverty in every period of the history. Poverty which is caused by individual or social circumstances can be evaluated as the inadequacies or difficulties faced in meeting the needs of an individual stemming from being a human. But poverty, as a social phenomenon, can be accepted as a product of the industrial revolution. It characterizes the struggles of masses in factories flooding to cities from rural areas with the thought of a better life and more freedom. Individuals earning their keep as agricultural laborers have become unsuccessful in meeting their basic needs against the competitive wage systems of the factories. This situation not only causes absolute poverty for individuals but also makes social life change as it has never changed before. Loss of the culture of solidarity and support of traditional society created the need to take institutional precautions and caused poverty to become more structural.
In modern world, however, the causes of poverty are based on many economic and social reasons. Even if the short income is always a leading reason among these, the poverty of the modern world together with the weakness sensation against the state and the society has become a social issue containing the insufficiency in dealing with these and the vulnerability for negative situations.
The first studies towards understanding the poverty are seen in the sixteenth century. Vives's “The Relief of the Poor” published in 1526, Paine's “Agrarian Justice” published in 1796 and Mill's studies in which he foresaw relief to the poor draw attention as the first studies to try to explain the notion of poverty (Bugra, 2007, p. 77). Many studies were made in the following days towards evaluating the poverty. Poverty was attempted to be evaluated within the frame of different definitions in these studies. However in present day, it is generally researched in three groups as relative and human poverty, approximation poverty and absolute poverty.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Poverty Line: A level of personal or family income below which one is classified as poor according to governmental standards.
Welfare State: A concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens.
Gender: Refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.
European Social Charter: The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty which guarantees social and economic human rights. It was adopted in 1961 and revised in 1996.
Absolute Poverty: The case in which an individual can only meet his basic needs simply to go on living.
Social Inclusion: The provision of certain rights to all individuals and groups in society, such as employment, adequate housing, health care, education and training, etc.
Social Integration: The set of arrangements adopted by the society and the group to accept a new member among them, and to facilitate this acceptance process.