Indebted Futures: Youth Debt, Familialism and Delayed Adulthood in Turkey’s Welfare Regime…

This article examines how student indebtedness shapes the transition to adulthood within Turkey’s familialist welfare regime. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 19 university graduates who received student loans, it reveals that debt is not merely a financial burden but a relational condition mediated by labour market precarity and familial dependence. While familial support helps young people navigate unemployment and low-income jobs, it also delays autonomy, producing ‘uneven pathways’ into adulthood. Debt reinforces intergenerational dependencies and deepens existing inequalities, particularly for those without stable employment or family resources. The findings show that in Turkey’s welfare regime—marked by limited public support and strong familial expectations—debt operates as both a survival strategy and a constraint. The study contributes to youth and welfare literature by situating debt within the cultural and economic logics of the Southern welfare model, highlighting how young people negotiate independence and familial connectivity under structural pressures.