Rehovot is the city with the highest quality of life among the 14 largest cities in Israel. This emerges from figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, published at noon on Monday, 25 Adar. The city also leads to satisfaction with work and housing, a sense of ability to cope with problems, and infant mortality is the lowest. Ramat Gan, Rishon L‘Tzion, Bnei Brak, Petach Tikva, Holon and Tel Aviv follow. The list closes with Jerusalem and Bat-Yam.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) explained that the ranking was based only on the indices shared by all 14 major cities: the rate of employment, the rate of involuntary part-time workers and job satisfaction, fatalities in road accidents, severely injured in road accidents, pedestrians killed in road accidents, and pedestrians seriously injured in road accidents Infant mortality, life expectancy, level of trust in the health system, self-evaluation of health, housing density, satisfaction with the residential area, satisfaction with the apartment, 30-year-olds with post-secondary education and higher education, voter turnout for Knesset in 2015, life satisfaction, expectations for the future and a sense of ability to deal with problems.

In the chapter dealing with Rehovot, the CBS wrote that it ranked first in the indices of job satisfaction, satisfaction with the apartment, a sense of ability to cope with problems, seriously injured in road accidents and pedestrians, and severely injured in road accidents. Rehovot is in tenth place regarding the health self-esteem index. Of 19 indicators for Rehovot, only 3 find the city below the national average while there are 16 areas in which Rehovot is ahead of the national average.

The available indicators for Rehovot, in only 3 indicators, the condition of Rehovot is lower than the national average, and in 16 indicators it is better than the national average.

The data from the Central Bureau of Statistics indicate that in Rehovot, the infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births on the streets was lower than the national average (1.1 vs. 3.1, respectively), and the satisfaction with cleanliness in the residential area was slightly lower than the national average (51.3% versus 53.4%, respectively).

Ramat Gan is in second place. The city is ranked first in the Life Expectancy Index, with people 30-years-old with post-secondary education and higher education, and 13th in the sense of coping with problems. Of the 24 indicators available for Ramat Gan, only 6 are worse than the national average, and 18 are better than the national average.

Third place is Rishon L’Tzion. The city ranks first in the satisfaction index of the residential area and in 13th place in the index of trust in the health system. Of the 28 indices available for Rishon L’Tzion, 13 are worse than the national average, and 15 are better than the national average.

Bnei Brak is ranked fourth. It is ranked first in the indices: satisfaction with life, expectations regarding the future, voter turnout in the Knesset elections, self-evaluation of health, fatalities in road accidents and pedestrians killed in road accidents. On the other hand, it ranks last in the indices: the rate of employment, the proportion of involuntary part-time employees, those 30-years-old with post-secondary education, and higher education and housing density. Of the 19 available indicators for Bnei Brak, 8 are less well-off than the national average and 11 are better than the national average.

Of the three large cities, Tel Aviv is ranked first and ranks seventh out of the 14 largest cities. It ranks first in the employment rate index, second in the index of 30-year-olds with post-secondary and higher education, and 14th in the indices: fatalities in road accidents, severely injured in road accidents, and pedestrians killed in road accidents.

Haifa ranked tenth in the ranking of the Central Bureau of Statistics, ranking first in the Housing Density Index and last in the Labor Satisfaction Index and expectations regarding the future.

Jerusalem is ranked 13th, that is, the second to last place. It ranks first in the index of trust in the health system and in the second place in the index, expectations regarding the future. In contrast, in the satisfaction index of the residential area, it is in 14th place.

Bat Yam completes the list of 14 major cities. It is in fifth place in the satisfaction index of the apartment and the last place in the indices: satisfaction with life, a sense of ability to deal with problems and the rate of voting in the Knesset elections.

Education, Degrees and Skills

As noted, the CBS examined a picture of the population of Israel on the basis of Quality of Life, Sustainability and National Resilience Indices, and in the school year it was found that in the 2015/16 school year, the enrollment rate for those aged 15-17 was 95.6%.

It was also found that the percentage of Arabs with post-secondary education and higher education was considerably lower than the percentage of Jews (36.4% versus 60.0% – a gap of 23.6 percentage points). The proportion of Jewish women with post-secondary and higher education was almost double that of Arab women (70.7% versus 37.2%, respectively).

A further figure in the education sector is that despite the fact that women are eligible for matriculation and meet university entrance requirements, the proportion of women eligible for matriculation exams at the level of five units is lower than the percentage of eligible men (16.1% versus 23.2%, respectively).

The rate of those with a high literacy level among Jews is similar to the average in the OECD countries (44% compared to 46%, respectively), while among Arabs this rate is significantly lower (16%). It was also found that in 2016, the chances of acquiring higher education among those aged 30 whose parents have higher education are 2.5 times higher than that of those whose parents have no higher education (55% versus 23%, respectively).

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)