Looking for a job? In cities like Istanbul and Budapest, public transportation is free for the unemployed to help them attend job interviews. But does it actually make a difference?
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00:00The Turkish economy is slowing down and inflation is through the roof, hovering at around 50%.
00:08Everyday essentials are getting more expensive.
00:11Economic pressures make it even harder for unemployed people like Eylif Sena.
00:16She's a 21-year-old university graduate living in Istanbul.
00:21Financially, she is fully dependent on her family.
00:24She isn't entitled to receive unemployment benefits because she's never had a job.
00:29Istanbul is huge and Eylif has to use public transportation to get to job interviews.
00:35But the travel costs are high, meaning she can't go to as many as she would like.
00:42I can't use my student card anymore because I graduated.
00:45And I can't afford more than two tickets.
00:48Public transportation is too expensive.
00:51Her story is far from unique.
00:54Turkey has a high unemployment rate, especially among young people.
00:58The struggle to find a job is something countless young people are dealing with, just like Eylif.
01:06Public transportation costs can be a barrier for job seekers.
01:10For Eylif, it's already a challenge just to get to the job interview.
01:15Istanbul has recently introduced a new initiative to make public transportation free for job seekers.
01:21Istanbul is the largest city so far to introduce such a measure.
01:27Our goal is that the participants can access certain job offers and prepare them for the interviews.
01:32The second goal is to reduce unemployment in Istanbul.
01:35Eylif is one of the first 8,000 people to apply for the free travel passes.
01:40After registering with a local job centre, she now has to attend an interview there.
01:48Her interview was short.
01:51It went well, but unfortunately they're looking for something else. It didn't match my qualifications.
01:58Eylif now only needs to fill out a form to get access to free transportation.
02:03She can take up to 32 trips a month.
02:06For each trip, she gets a QR code on her phone.
02:11If she can't find a job within a month, she can renew the travel pass a maximum of three times a year.
02:18Istanbul isn't the first or only city to offer free transportation to the unemployed.
02:23In Budapest, job seekers can travel on public transportation for free,
02:28but they also need to renew their pass every month.
02:31Meanwhile, the city of Cape Town went for a different approach.
02:35The city has partnered with employers to give job applicants travel vouchers to use for interviews.
02:41But do these measures actually help people find work?
02:44There are a few studies looking at the benefits of such measures, and they show mixed results.
02:49One U.S. study in Washington, D.C. found that job seekers who received a discount card for public transportation
02:56applied and interviewed for more jobs.
02:58But another study in Seattle found that job seekers who were offered free transportation over a period of six months
03:05weren't any more likely to actually get a job.
03:08While such initiatives can help job seekers in the short term, they're not enough to keep people working in the long term.
03:38In terms of service quality, in terms of adherence to the schedules.
03:41For Elif Sena, free transportation is a game changer.
03:47Without this support, I wouldn't be able to go to as many job interviews.
03:53Do you think free transportation for job seekers is a good idea?