The previous report, issued by the National Insurance Institute in August 2005, showed that in the year 2004, there were over 1.5 million people living under the poverty line, or 394,200 families.
The present report, covering the period between mid-2004 and mid-2005, shows an increase to 1.6 million poor, 738,000 children and youths, and 403,000 families. The poverty line has been set at one-half of the average salary.
The proportion of poor families remains stable, but the number of poor children and youths jumped. Some 58% of the "working poor" carry full-time jobs.
The increase in the number of poor children was not surprising. Monthly child-allowances have dropped steadily since 2003, when then-Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instituted his emergency economic plan. The United Torah Judaism party and others led a campaign against the cut in child allowances at the time, and MK Meir Porush even waged a hunger strike for two weeks.
Netanyahu's plan calls for the gradual drop in child allowance payments through the year 2009. For example, a family of eight children that received an average of some 500 shekels a month each in 2003, now receives just under 300 shekels a month for each child, and is scheduled to receive 150 shekels each by 2009 - a total cut of almost 72%.
Though Israel's economy grew in the past year, the number of poor did not drop. Rather, the gaps between the rich and poor grew, indicating that the economic growth chiefly benefited Israel's wealthy, rather than the weaker classes.
Former Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) said that the number of poor is the direct result of the government's recent policies. President Moshe Katzav said that the widespread dependency on charity organizations is a national catastrophe, and that the country must not ignore its responsibility in this matter. Acting Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ehud Olmert said that the statistics are truly of concern: "The government is embarking on a struggle against poverty, and the next report will show a concrete drop in the number of poor."
MK Porush said today that the citizenry should adopt President Moshe Katzav's recommendation not to vote for parties that have not placed the war against poverty at the top of their agenda. Porush said that not only was the government's policy to blame, but the way it was executed as well: "They cut budgets without differentiation and without sensitivity, for the fact is that the state coffers have amassed a ten-billion shekel surplus. Shouldn't there be a revision during the fiscal year, such as in the drastic cuts in child allowances?"
Porush further said that the government's assumption that poverty is a function of people not going to work has been shown to be untrue: "Expert economists have shown that most of the poor in Israel have jobs, but do not get paid enough. 80% of the poor children are from families whose parents work; most of the growth in poverty is among working families." He said that after the elections, a new national budget should be formulated, "one that will provide a true security net for all."