Over half of Jerusalem's children poor
Statistics published by CBS reveal third of capital's families poor, employment rates among residents lower than in rest of country, number of persons per family substantially higher
Over a third of the families in Jerusalem (33%) and 56% of the children living in the capital are poor and live under the poverty line, data published Thursday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) revealed.
According to the CBS' Statistical Abstract for 2005-2006, only 45% of the city's population is employed, an employment rate that is 11% lower than the national average. The employment rate in Jerusalem stands at 50% among Jews (compared to a national average of 59%), and 35% among Arabs (compared to a national average of 43%).
These differences are mainly attributed to the low employment rate among haredi men and Arab women.
As a result of these figures, Jerusalem ranks very poorly on the index of the average household monthly income, which stands at NIS 11,429 per family, compared to NIS 15,918 in Tel Aviv and to the national average of NIS 14,419.
It should be noted that the number of persons per family in the capital is substantially higher than in the rest of the country, reaching 4.2. In comparison, the average family in Tel Aviv comprises 2.6 persons, and the national average stands at 3.7.
More opting to leave capital
At the end of 2006, Jerusalem's population stood at 733,000, making up about 10% of Israel's population. Sixty-six percent of the city's residents were Jewish, and the rest were Arabs.
While the ratio between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem has not changed since 2004, a calculation of the last four decades showed that the Arab population has grown by 286% over this period, while the Jewish population increased by only 143%.
In 2006, the ultra-Orthodox community in the capital amounted to 20% of the general population, and 30% of the Jewish population.
In 2006, Jerusalem's migration balance remained negative, with 17,300 choosing to leave the city compared to only 10,900 who moved to Jerusalem. Since 1990, some 272,000 residents have left the capital, most of them Jewish.
