Income gaps not getting any smaller
Photo: Avigail Uzi
Report: Men earn 60 percent more
New research reveals social, economic inequality widespread in Israel, with Ashkenaz Jewish men earning much more than Sephardic Jews, Arabs or women
If Israelis believe their country is a land of free opportunity and social equality, they better think again. A new research published by the Adva Center for Information on Equality and Social Justice in Israel reveals that the income gaps in the country between men and women, Jews and Arabs, and Ashkenaz and Sephardic Jews are far from narrowing.
Bank of Israel Report
Tamar Barzilai
About 40 percent of Israel's poor are either Arab or ultra-Orthodox, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said Monday at the Israel Business Conference
According to the research, despite the economic growth in 2004, the division of income between the different sectors in society remained significantly unbalanced.
For example, in 2004 the top 20 percent of the population in Israel earned 44 percent of the total income in the country. In the same year, the average household income for the top tenth percentile was NIS 37,864 (about USD 8,000), while in the lowest tenth percentile the average income stood on NIS 3,127 (USD 665).
'Growth is not the solution'
The researchers at the Adva Center compiled an index to indicate the level of inequality between various social groups. Their data revealed that the average income of an Ashkenaz Jew in 2004 equaled 136 points, while the income of a Sephardic Jew stood at 100 points, and that of an Israeli-Arab – 75.
The research also reported that men earned 60 percent more on average than women in 2004.
The authors of the research stressed that "growth in itself does not guarantee a solution to the wide range of problems Israeli society faces today: The sharp rise in inequality, the shrinking of the middle class, the increase in the number of poor people and the ostentatious wealth of the very few."
In order to deal with these problems, the people of the Adva Center claim, "growth must be guided by a policy of distributing investments all across Israel and the different sectors of society, and by providing citizens with the necessary tools that will allow them to participate in the economic activity."
