How to Reduce the Impact of Equivalence Scales on Poverty Measurement: Evidence from Turkey

The main aim of the paper is to contribute to the poverty measurement literature by demonstrating a method to reduce the impact of equivalence scales in poverty measurement. This is accomplished by choosing the most appropriate reference household type. The results showed that one adult household is certainly not suitable for being the reference household type. When one adult household is set as the reference, in the range of no equivalence scale and per capita equivalence scale, poverty head count ratio changes from 1 to 48 %, showing the huge effect of the equivalence scale choice. Also the analyses at household size level showed that one adult household type is not convenient to be the reference household type. On the other hand, no clear distinction could be made between central household types, but the importance of choosing a household type close to the center was demonstrated for Turkish data.     

Does Studying with the Local Students Effect Psycological Symptoms in Refugee Adolescents? A Controlled Study

Integration of refugees into the education system at the resettlement country is a significant issue. In this study, we investigated how refugee students are affected in terms of psychological symptoms by studying in the same classroom with their local peers. This cross-sectional study was conducted during the school year in Mardin, Turkey. Participants consisted of 105 Syrian refugee adolescents and 66 Turkish adolescents attending a secondary school. The participants completed the socio-demographic data form, war-related traumatic experiences questions, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Syrian refugees had lived for an average of 5 years in Turkey. Number of adolescents who have more than one traumatic experience was 50 (47.6%). As quantified by the SDQ, it has been found that children who experience more than one traumatic event have more psychological problems than those who experienced only one traumatic event in all areas except the social problems subscale. Emotional Problems Subscale, Peer Problems Subscale and Total SDQ scores have shown statistically significant differences according to classroom typology. Experiencing a traumatic moment in war increased the psychiatric symptoms of adolescents as quantified by the SDQ. If refugee children study in the same classes as non-refugee children, their psychiatric symptoms were less frequent.