Poverty Rate – Israel

Posted on October 18, 2010 by townsend

• Poverty in Israel decreased by as much as 29%, think tank reports, By Moti Bassok, October 17, 2010, Haaretz Daily Newspaper: “Israel’s poor became significantly better off by all measures during the last decade’s economic growth, the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies said in a report it released yesterday. ‘In every measure related to quality of life – purchasing power of necessities, real income, ownership of durable goods and life expectancy – Israel’s poor have become significantly better off,’ stated the report, written by Yarden Gazit. In terms of real income, poverty decreased by 18.8% between 2004 and 2008, and in terms of purchasing power, poverty decreased by 29%, the report stated…”
• Over half of capital’s kids live in poverty, report finds, By Melanie Lidman, October 18, 2010, Jerusalem Post: “More than half the children in the Jerusalem district live below the poverty line, according to an extensive report on the capital’s population released Sunday by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. Jerusalem’s poverty rate is much higher than other Israeli cities. In Tel Aviv, 23 percent of children and 14% of families live below the poverty line, and 20% of families and 34% of children in Israel as a whole live in poverty, the report found. Sunday was the UN’s International Day to Eradicate Poverty, making the dire statistics about Jerusalem even more poignant. The authors of the Jerusalem study pointed to the large haredi and Arab populations in the city as the main reasons for the high level of poverty…”
• ‘Poverty drops 18.8% in just four years’, By Ruth Eglash, October 18, 2010, Jerusalem Post: “The country’s poor are significantly better off than they were a decade ago, with the number of people living in absolute poverty falling by 18.8 percent in just four years, according to a report published by the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies on Sunday. Released to coincide with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and one day before various Knesset committees discuss the poor, the report calls into question the annual figures published by the National Insurance Institute (NII), which show that poverty rates are continually rising, and suggests that the situation is not as grim as depicted. Authored by economist Yarden Gazit and based on consumer trends data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies report is the first to measure absolute poverty as opposed to relative poverty in the country. It shows that Israelis, even those with the lowest salaries, are able to pay for their basic needs and even allow themselves luxuries and savings…”