The poor in Israel began to suffer even more hardship almost a year before the economic spiral downward started to hit the rest of the world, according to a report by the National Insurance Institute (NII), Bituach Leumi.
According to the survey released over the weekend by the agency – Israel’s form of Social Security – the poor became poorer in the second half of 2007 and the first half of 2008. The findings revealed in the semi-annual poverty report also showed that 418,000 families were found to be living below the poverty line. This figure represents a total of 1.63 million Israelis, including 777,400 children.
Israel National Radio's talk show host Walter Bingham discussed the issue recently on his program, Walter's World. To listen to the program, click here.
The number of poor families rose in several different sectors in 2007, in fact. The number of unemployed poor families rose from 69 percent from January to June 2007 to 71.4 percent in the second half of the year. In addition, the number of “working poor” families living below the poverty line, with two breadwinners, also increased from 21.3 percent to 23.6 percent in the same period. The same families also saw a drop in their net income of up to 10 percent.
The number of Jewish families living below the poverty line declined in the center of the country, but rose in the north.
Among the Arab population, the figures varied, depending on location. The percentage of Arab families living below the poverty line was lower in Haifa and the north than it was for Jews in the same region – and lower than it was for Arabs in the central and southern regions.
However, 50.1 percent of Arab citizenry was still found to be living below the poverty line in the first half of 2008.
A very slight improvement was noted in the senior citizen population, most likely due to the increase in benefits that was passed by the government in early 2008. According to the report, figures indicated that the number of senior citizens living below the poverty line dropped from 22.6 percent to 22.2 percent in December 2007 and the first quarter of 2008.