Poverty in Eretz Yisrael is more than twice that of other OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations, which includes 30 nations. Among the OECD members are the United States, France, Britain, Japan, Germany and Australia.
According to the OECD report released on Oct. 21st, “the gap between rich and poor has grown in more than three-quarters of OECD countries over the past two decades”.
The report utilizes the same parameters included in the Bituach Leumi report on poverty, permitting the comparison between the two. The OECD report generally uses date from 2004-2006 while the Israeli numbers are taken from the 2007 Bituach Leumi report, which by the way reflects a slight improvement. Nevertheless, the numbers represent the painful reality for many families and children in Eretz Yisrael.
The number of OECD nations in which citizens are living below the poverty line is 10.6% while in Israel, that number has climbed to an alarming 24.5%. Unfortunately, Israel’s poverty level in each population category is higher, leading among children, with 34% of Israel’s children living under the poverty level as defined by Bituach Leumi. Among OECD member nations, that number is 12%. There is no other developed nation with a poverty level among children close to that painful reality that exists today Eretz Yisrael.
In Europe, poverty among children ranges from 3% in Denmark to 10% in Britain, with the record being held by America with 21%, still significantly lower than in Israel.
23.5% of Israel’s senior citizens are poverty-stricken as compared to 13% among OECD nations. In most Western European nations, the poverty level among senior citizens hovers between 10-12%. Only four nations have a higher poverty level among their elderly, including Mexico, Korea, Ireland and the United States.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel – written on isru chag in Eretz Yisrael)
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3 Responses
The dirty little secret is that the majority of the poor in Israel choose not to work for ideological reasons, not because work is not available for them.
The difference is that in Eretz Yisrael, poverty is a government policy inflicted upon groups the government wishes it could expel but can’t. However it also should be noted that the government figures seriously underestimate income among those groups (Hareidim, and to a lesser extent Arabs), not taking into account, for example, payments to teachers (since the teacher is considered an “Unemployed draft dodger” rather than employed and also since much of the money moves in a way that the Israeli tax authorities can’t get a handle on it – in the US we would call it conscientious objection).
#3 – right, go to any frum neighborhood, and see all the hareidim doing drugs, getting stones, playing checkers….
If a professor of Talmud at Hebrew University is consdiered employed, so should a Magid Shiur in a yeshiva. If anyone “in kollel” who receives more than a tuition waiver, space in a dorm, and dining hall admissions WAS CONSIDERED EMPLOYED, Hardidim unemployment would be non-existent.