Youth Poverty in the Framework of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach

In its most basic sense, poverty is the lack of income to meet the basic needs of individuals. Today, the economic approach may not be considered sufficient to define and explain poverty. Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach is an approach that explains poverty multidimensional beyond income inadequacy. Youth are among the groups most affected by poverty, which is a multidimensional concept beyond income inadequacy. Studies on youth poverty are new and insufficient in terms of quality and quantity. In this context, the aim of this study is to try to explain youth poverty within the framework of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and to reveal the situation of young people in EU countries and Turkey. In the data on youth poverty in the EU and Turkey, indicators affecting the capabilities of young people such as participation, employment and unemployment, education and training, health and well-being, the digital world and social exclusion were used. Most of the data on these indicators are taken from EUROSTAT and TURKSTAT data. As a result, it is seen that young people in Turkey are more deprived than young people in the EU in almost all indicators and lag behind in terms of capabilities.