Some feel the social-economic gap existing in Eretz Yisrael has reached unprecedented levels, perhaps backed by the recently released statistics.
The average monthly expenditure per person is 4,177 NIS. The area with the highest monthly expenditure per person is in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, 6,841 NIS, a far cry from the nation’s lowest, Bnei Brak, 2,620 NIS. There is an average of 3.3 people per family and 1.3 wage earners. The largest average size family nationwide is also in Bnei Brak, 4.2, and the lowest is in Tel Aviv, 2.3.
The average family will spend 13,967 monthly. In Rechovot, that monthly figure is reported at 15,815 NIS, while in Betar, the nation’s lowest, it stands at 10, 322 NIS.
The figures are based on the 14 largest cities in Eretz Yisrael, cities with over 200,000 residents. This includes Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon L’Tzion, Ashdod, and Petach Tikvah, along with eight municipalities with 100,000 to 200,000 residents; Ramat Gan, Netanya, Cholon, Bat Yam, Bnei Brak, Beersheva, Ashkelon and Rechovot. These communities are among the 175 included in the 2011 Household Survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, a survey conducted every 5-7 years since the 1950s and every year since 1977.
6,051 households took part in the 2011 survey, representative of 2,200,000 households nationwide. In the 14 largest cities, 2,931 households participated, representative of over 1 million households nationwide.
The survey shows 68.8% of apartment dwellers are owners as opposed to 26.3% renting. Ashdod leads the nation of owners living in apartments with 74.6% as compared to the lowest in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, 44.1%. Tel Aviv averages the smallest apartments, 2.5 rooms (1 bedroom) while leading the nation in monthly rent, averaging 3,552 NIS. The most crowded apartments (people per room) category is shared by Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Ashdod.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
This article should make it apparent that it is time for the Yeshiva community in Eretz Yisrael and America to have an honest, frank and mature discussion about the economic reality of a Kollel for all public policy.
The impact of the poverty and financial strain that this policy has on the Kollel family and the parents who are often pressed into amassing huge amounts of debt must be addressed.
Keeping our collective heads in the sand will only exacerbate the problem.