A study conducted by National Insurance Institute researchers shows that while the Wisconsin Plan helps Israelis from some communities, others are unlikely to find the program beneficial. The program aims to bring welfare recipients back into the workforce.
The Wisconsin Plan was put into effect on a trial basis in several cities in Israel beginning in 2005. The program is known in Hebrew as “M'Halev.” Under the plan, private companies take responsibility for finding jobs for welfare recipients.
The companies are paid for removing people from the welfare list, whether by finding them employment or determining that they have not made a sufficient effort to find work. Companies receive additional benefits for each welfare recipient who finds work.
Those who benefit most from the program are single Arab men, particularly those between the ages of 25 and 34 with a high school education. Single mothers from the former Soviet Union and those with a higher academic degree are among those least likely to find permanent work through the program.
NII researchers found that the program had no significant effect on employment among those with 13 or more years of education, or on those with no high school education.
In addition, the program had a minimal impact on employment among the handicapped, those under age 24, and those between ages 35 and 44. Welfare recipients ages 45 and above are exempt from required participation in the program.
In cities in which the program was put into effect, those unemployed for one year or longer are required to spend the day at program centers in order to receive government aid. They are given training and professional advice, and are required to accept employment as it becomes available.
The average salary earned by Wisconsin Plan graduates in full-time positions is 3,670 shekels a month, just over minimum wage.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said earlier this month that he is prepared to expand implementation of the welfare-to-work program only if changes are made.
Ben-Eliezer wants the program to be limited to those under the age of 60, and requests that non-profit organizations be authorized to run Wisconsin Plan centers. In addition, he has called on the government to reward centers that prove they can provide effective rehabilitation, and to continue to grant participants welfare payments for six months.
He also asks that criteria be set to determine which people are unable to benefit from the program.
“The goal is to return people to the workforce... [but] I will not allow those whose physical and mental conditions make employment impossible to be dragged back to work.”