Our expenses are less than they were in the States–approximately 75%of what they were there. (Chinuch atzmai schools are not free, by the way–tuition eats up 1/3rd of our income.) But my husband’s income is 25% what it was in the States. I didn’t work there; with my work and his, together we earn about 50% what he did in the States. So our economic load is significantly higher, despite not having a home or vehicle. (During the lengthy time my husband was unemployed, our income was 25% what it had been in the States while our expenses were 75%–we may never pay off the debt we racked up in those years just to keep a little food on the table. Know what it feels like to have to walk across town because you literally do not have 6 shekels for bus fare? I do.)
My point is, NbN and others may give a very rosy picture (they told us my husband would have no trouble getting work here in his field–what a joke), but the reality is that poverty is seriously not fun, and I have seen about half of all my friends who made aliyah go back to the States for economic reasons.
It’s a great irony of our life that we made aliyah for the ruchnius, but all we have is the constant preoccupation with gashmius. Not shopping, folks, but just trying to ensure our kids are eating (not to mention trying to stay out of jail, which is a challenge when you are poor in Israel). That two people with master’s degrees working multiple jobs are under the poverty line is pretty pathetic.