Ynet:

The ultra-Orthodox population�s consumer habits are becoming more and more similar to those of secular Israelis: They are shopping for brand names, taking more vacations, owning more cars and spending more money on alcohol consumption, Israel�s leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday……. Dr. Degani assessed that Orthodox habits and tastes have changed over the past few years due to the proliferation of communication devices such as televisions, computers and cellular phones……. The purchase of wine and alcoholic beverages has also gone up: Beer consumption increased 35 percent and wine consumption 25 percent. The increase is attributed to the drop in prices in recent years which have made alcoholic beverages more available to people in lower income brackets……. Car ownership has also gone up significantly. Five years ago one quarter of the religious population owned cars, compared to 32 percent this year. The demand to buy apartments among Orthodox stands at roughly 3,500 housing units per year, which is 35 percent higher than among the rest of the population…… Willingness to enter the work force has also increased……. In the past five years, the average income of Orthodox households has increase by 8 percent, which apparently explains their increasing consumerism…..