According to the latest Bituach Leumi report on poverty in Israel, released on Wednesday, 14 Kislev, poverty in Israel was down last year including the chareidi community, due to steps taken by government agencies to alleviate the situation.

According to the report, at present, the state-defined poverty line for a family of four is NIS 8,086 monthly. For an individual, the poverty line is earning less than NIS 3,158 monthly and for couples, less than NIS 5,053 per month. A family of five individuals is defined as poor by earning less than NIS 9,475 monthly.

In 2015, the numbers in this category fell from 22% in 2014 to 21.7% in 2015 and among the elderly, it fell from 23.1% to 21.7%.

In the Israeli Arab sector the poverty increased from 18.8% to 19.1%. Bituach Leumi CEO Professor Shlomo Mor Yosef explains that with an increased minimum wage and an addition NIS 320 million allocated to assist the disabled, the picture should improve.

The bottom line is that over 1.7 million Israelis live in poverty, 21.7% of the population and that has many worried. The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) adds, in 2015 there were 1,712,900 people, including 460,800 families and 764,200 children living below the poverty line.

When compared to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations, Israel remains at the highest poverty of developed nations.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)