whitemajikman
11-24-2005, 10:45 AM
Jerusalem----October 12......As Israel enters into Yom Kippur one fact remains unchanged. One Israel child out of three is poor, a poverty report reveals. Every third child in Israel lives below the poverty line, according to an annual National Insurance Institute (NII) poverty report released recently.
Over 400,000 families in Israel suffer from "nutritional insecurity," a euphemistic term for "hunger." 28% of Israeli citizens, or 1,600,000 people are living in poverty. Among them are more than 600,000 hungry children. Those experiencing "nutritional insecurity" eat smaller portions, skip meals and, in extreme cases, don't eat for a whole day. Diets may be high in carbohydrates and lacking or almost devoid of meat, dairy products, vegetables and fruit. In Israel, 22% of families are deemed moderately insecure and 8% suffer from severe insecurity.
A family's situation is considered moderately insecure when the parents deprive themselves of food to ensure their children get what they need. In families whose situation is severe, the children are deprived as well. 60% of nutritionally insecure are Jewish, 20% are Arab, and 20% new immigrants. 80% of nutritionally insecure people reported a deterioration in their situation in the last 22 years, as Israel economic conditions have deteriorated. About 24% of Israelis are forced to make choices between food and other expenses such as mortgage, rent, medicine, heating and electricity. About half choose to get along with less food. The 'poverty line' in Israel in 2002 was NIS 4,500 a month ($937.50) for the average Israeli family of four - mother, father and two children.
Signs of how severe the problem is are all too apparent on the streets of Israel. In Jerusalem, for example, nearly 1,000 people a day come to four soup kitchens at which hot meals are served. It is also commonplace to see older men and women picking through the garbage at outdoor markets in Israel's cities. The collapse of the economy has taken a great toll on the lives of Israel's poorest families, and many children from middle-class families are now joining their ranks. Unemployment in Israel is around 20%, and the difficult economic situation has taken its toll on huge numbers of Israelis.
In 2004, 1.534 million people in Israel lived below the poverty line, the report found. The figure attests to a substantial rise in poverty rates, with 100,000 more poor Israelis in 2004 than there were in 2003. The report also shows that poor families constitute 20.3 percent of Israel's population. The number of children living in poor families has reached 700,000.
The figures indicate that one-third of all poor families are Israeli Arab, according to Mossawa, the Advocacy Center for Arab Palestinian Citizens of Israel. The group said it estimates that 60 percent of all Arab children in Israel live below the poverty line. Mossawa said the percentage of poor families in the Arab sector in 2004 stands at 49.9 percent, up from the 2003 mark of 48.4 percent.
After six years of relative stability in Israel, the year 2003 marked the start of the ascension of poverty rates. In that year, the proportion of poor families rose from 18.1 percent of the population to 19.3 percent. The report was released just as the 2006 budget is expected to come up for cabinet approval. The Finance Ministry responded to the report by saying that two-thirds of the poverty "focuses on the Arab and Haredi population, two groups which are characterized by multi-children families as well as small percentage of people who take part in the job market."
The Israel treasury added that the report reflects data from 2004 and thus does not take into account those who have attained employment in 2005 as a result of cuts in government welfare payments. Treasury officials predicted that tens of thousands of senior citizens will rise above the poverty line in the coming year due to a planned increase in welfare payments.
In response to the report's publication, Israel President Moshe Katsav said that a prerequisite for economic recovery is minimizing poverty in the country. Before the publication of the report, NII officials quipped that former Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned to evade facing the 2004 poverty report. "This is a stain which Netanyahu cannot escape from even if he escaped from the Finance Ministry," said Histadrut labor federation chairman MK Amir Peretz (Labor). "This (report) is an indictment against the entire government," said Peretz, who called on the acting finance minister, Ehud Olmert, to raise the minimum wage as well as senior citizen allowances.
While Netanyahu's resignation is aimed at achieving a political agenda, he is identified more than any other politician as the one who contributed to the increase of the country's poor population, whose total reached nearly 1.5 million last year. The poverty report shows the results of Netanyahu's policy in the last two years - primarily the drastic cut in income allowance for which he is so proud. Intended to drive unemployed people to work, the cut was carried out in the middle of 2003, and its full effect was reflected in the 2004 poverty report.
The gradual cutback in child allowances in Israel, which began in mid-2003, also affected the poverty rate. Children's allowances were slashed three times last year, a move which is scheduled to be continued through 2009. By then, the allowances of large families will be 70 percent lower than in 2003. The cutbacks apparently forced people to work, but according to 2004 Bank of Israel figures, most of the newly created jobs were part time, at very low wages. The allowance cutback on the one hand, and the part-time jobs and low pay on the other pushed tens of thousands of Israelis below the poverty line.
"Netanyahu's resignation came too late for 1.5 million Israelis, 700,000 of whom are children," attorney Yuval Albashan, the director of Hebrew University's legal clinics and a leading social activist, said. "Netanyahu restored ideology to the public discourse. He accelerated the privatization and cutback trends, and these are the results," he said. The main result of the outgoing minister's policy is an increase in inequality.
The Central Bureau of Statistices (CBS) reported that the index of the gap between the rich and poor increased reached 0.379 in 2004, compared to 0.370 in previous years. Members of the Yadid association, which aids the needy, said it received 50 percent more requests for help last year, primarily from people who could not meet their mortgage payments and had accumulated heavy debts due to the treasury having slashed their income.
"We are witnessing the emergence of two new poverty sectors - the working poor and the new poor," said Yadid Director General Sari Rivkin. The working poor are those who managed to find work at a meager pay dooming them to continued poverty. The new poor in Israel are those who used to belong to the middle class but cannot meet their mortgage payments or buy medication, school books and other items.
The association issued a list of the government's broken promises for 2004: It promised to feed 100,000 school children, but provided meals for only 30,000; it promised to find profitable work for thousands of single mothers whose allowances were cut, but only 600 of them managed to increase their income to the minimal amount qualifying them for a grant promised by the state; it slashed the budget for professional training by 50 percent and drastically reduced the number of people eligible to attend courses. "Perhaps the depression is over for a small number of families, but the standard of living has not risen in 2004 among the lower percentiles," members of Yadid said.
Netanyahu reiterated that if the government continues his policies, economic growth would continue, and the standard of living of the lower-income population would rise. But NII officials find it difficult to believe. They predicted in November that things would only get worse.
Over 1.4 million people, or 22.4 percent of the Israel population, were classified as poor last year. That number included 652,000 children, representing 30.8 percent of the country's children. After six years of stability, the number of poor families rose sharply last year from 18.1 percent to 19.3 percent of all families.
WMM
Over 400,000 families in Israel suffer from "nutritional insecurity," a euphemistic term for "hunger." 28% of Israeli citizens, or 1,600,000 people are living in poverty. Among them are more than 600,000 hungry children. Those experiencing "nutritional insecurity" eat smaller portions, skip meals and, in extreme cases, don't eat for a whole day. Diets may be high in carbohydrates and lacking or almost devoid of meat, dairy products, vegetables and fruit. In Israel, 22% of families are deemed moderately insecure and 8% suffer from severe insecurity.
A family's situation is considered moderately insecure when the parents deprive themselves of food to ensure their children get what they need. In families whose situation is severe, the children are deprived as well. 60% of nutritionally insecure are Jewish, 20% are Arab, and 20% new immigrants. 80% of nutritionally insecure people reported a deterioration in their situation in the last 22 years, as Israel economic conditions have deteriorated. About 24% of Israelis are forced to make choices between food and other expenses such as mortgage, rent, medicine, heating and electricity. About half choose to get along with less food. The 'poverty line' in Israel in 2002 was NIS 4,500 a month ($937.50) for the average Israeli family of four - mother, father and two children.
Signs of how severe the problem is are all too apparent on the streets of Israel. In Jerusalem, for example, nearly 1,000 people a day come to four soup kitchens at which hot meals are served. It is also commonplace to see older men and women picking through the garbage at outdoor markets in Israel's cities. The collapse of the economy has taken a great toll on the lives of Israel's poorest families, and many children from middle-class families are now joining their ranks. Unemployment in Israel is around 20%, and the difficult economic situation has taken its toll on huge numbers of Israelis.
In 2004, 1.534 million people in Israel lived below the poverty line, the report found. The figure attests to a substantial rise in poverty rates, with 100,000 more poor Israelis in 2004 than there were in 2003. The report also shows that poor families constitute 20.3 percent of Israel's population. The number of children living in poor families has reached 700,000.
The figures indicate that one-third of all poor families are Israeli Arab, according to Mossawa, the Advocacy Center for Arab Palestinian Citizens of Israel. The group said it estimates that 60 percent of all Arab children in Israel live below the poverty line. Mossawa said the percentage of poor families in the Arab sector in 2004 stands at 49.9 percent, up from the 2003 mark of 48.4 percent.
After six years of relative stability in Israel, the year 2003 marked the start of the ascension of poverty rates. In that year, the proportion of poor families rose from 18.1 percent of the population to 19.3 percent. The report was released just as the 2006 budget is expected to come up for cabinet approval. The Finance Ministry responded to the report by saying that two-thirds of the poverty "focuses on the Arab and Haredi population, two groups which are characterized by multi-children families as well as small percentage of people who take part in the job market."
The Israel treasury added that the report reflects data from 2004 and thus does not take into account those who have attained employment in 2005 as a result of cuts in government welfare payments. Treasury officials predicted that tens of thousands of senior citizens will rise above the poverty line in the coming year due to a planned increase in welfare payments.
In response to the report's publication, Israel President Moshe Katsav said that a prerequisite for economic recovery is minimizing poverty in the country. Before the publication of the report, NII officials quipped that former Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned to evade facing the 2004 poverty report. "This is a stain which Netanyahu cannot escape from even if he escaped from the Finance Ministry," said Histadrut labor federation chairman MK Amir Peretz (Labor). "This (report) is an indictment against the entire government," said Peretz, who called on the acting finance minister, Ehud Olmert, to raise the minimum wage as well as senior citizen allowances.
While Netanyahu's resignation is aimed at achieving a political agenda, he is identified more than any other politician as the one who contributed to the increase of the country's poor population, whose total reached nearly 1.5 million last year. The poverty report shows the results of Netanyahu's policy in the last two years - primarily the drastic cut in income allowance for which he is so proud. Intended to drive unemployed people to work, the cut was carried out in the middle of 2003, and its full effect was reflected in the 2004 poverty report.
The gradual cutback in child allowances in Israel, which began in mid-2003, also affected the poverty rate. Children's allowances were slashed three times last year, a move which is scheduled to be continued through 2009. By then, the allowances of large families will be 70 percent lower than in 2003. The cutbacks apparently forced people to work, but according to 2004 Bank of Israel figures, most of the newly created jobs were part time, at very low wages. The allowance cutback on the one hand, and the part-time jobs and low pay on the other pushed tens of thousands of Israelis below the poverty line.
"Netanyahu's resignation came too late for 1.5 million Israelis, 700,000 of whom are children," attorney Yuval Albashan, the director of Hebrew University's legal clinics and a leading social activist, said. "Netanyahu restored ideology to the public discourse. He accelerated the privatization and cutback trends, and these are the results," he said. The main result of the outgoing minister's policy is an increase in inequality.
The Central Bureau of Statistices (CBS) reported that the index of the gap between the rich and poor increased reached 0.379 in 2004, compared to 0.370 in previous years. Members of the Yadid association, which aids the needy, said it received 50 percent more requests for help last year, primarily from people who could not meet their mortgage payments and had accumulated heavy debts due to the treasury having slashed their income.
"We are witnessing the emergence of two new poverty sectors - the working poor and the new poor," said Yadid Director General Sari Rivkin. The working poor are those who managed to find work at a meager pay dooming them to continued poverty. The new poor in Israel are those who used to belong to the middle class but cannot meet their mortgage payments or buy medication, school books and other items.
The association issued a list of the government's broken promises for 2004: It promised to feed 100,000 school children, but provided meals for only 30,000; it promised to find profitable work for thousands of single mothers whose allowances were cut, but only 600 of them managed to increase their income to the minimal amount qualifying them for a grant promised by the state; it slashed the budget for professional training by 50 percent and drastically reduced the number of people eligible to attend courses. "Perhaps the depression is over for a small number of families, but the standard of living has not risen in 2004 among the lower percentiles," members of Yadid said.
Netanyahu reiterated that if the government continues his policies, economic growth would continue, and the standard of living of the lower-income population would rise. But NII officials find it difficult to believe. They predicted in November that things would only get worse.
Over 1.4 million people, or 22.4 percent of the Israel population, were classified as poor last year. That number included 652,000 children, representing 30.8 percent of the country's children. After six years of stability, the number of poor families rose sharply last year from 18.1 percent to 19.3 percent of all families.
WMM