Dean of European University of Lefke (EUL) Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences Prof. Dr. Okan Veli Şafaklı presented his notice titled “Contrastive Analysis of Subsistence Wage in the T.R.N.C” at the 1^st International Multidisciplinary Studies Congress held at Çukurova and represented EUL.

Şafaklı: Providing employees with a level of income that meets their basic human needs is a requirement of being a state

Giving information about his presentation Şafaklı said that in countries where the welfare level is low, the income distribution is unbalanced and the supply-demand balance in the labor market occurs against the employee, the determination and implementation of the subsistence wage are important for the social state phenomenon. Şafaklı said that “Providing employees with a level of income that meets their basic human needs is a requirement of being a state” and added that the states apply a minimum wage to provide a level of prosperity that is foreseen to employees without disrupting the fundamental dynamics of the labor market and the economy. Şafaklı emphasized that because of the competitiveness level of the economy in the TRNC and the development of the labor market balances against the employee, the minimum wage application is among the main priorities of the social state.

Şafaklı also said that “In this study, the subsistence wage application in TRNC has been reviewed retrospectively” and expressed the subsistence wage is revealed with absolute values and the changes in the subsistence wage are evaluated in terms of the ratio of subsistence wage and national income to the dollar. Pointing out that he has compared the subsistence wage in the T.R.N.C with several counties including the EU countries, Şafaklı said that “In the study, the method of determining the subsistence wage in the TRNC was also analyzed”.

Pointing out that in the TRNC, the government is determinant in the final decision on the subsistence wage, even if the factors that overlap with the criteria of the International Labor Organization (ILO) are taken into account, Şafaklı said that “Since the subsistence wage increase affects the country’s chronic budget deficits negatively, the maximum subsistence wage increase that the government can approve is generally limited to the inflation rate”. Şafaklı expressed that the subsistence wage in the TRNC is insufficient in view of household average expenditure and poverty limits in the country and added that “However, in terms of the share of the national income from the minimum wage; It is noteworthy that the minimum wage per capita national income ratio in the TRNC is well above the European Union (EU) average”.