One in four Israelis fears falling into poverty, 36 percent of the needy in Israel live in hunger, one in five have contemplated suicide and 10% of the needy know someone who died due to inability to fund medical care, the 2008 Alternative Poverty Report published by the LATET aid organization revealed on Tuesday.
According to the report, a serious deterioration of the poverty problem has been felt over the years, as a result of jobs that do not supply sufficient income, lack of workplaces, the government's failure to address the problem, a rise in food prices, the general public's perception of the problem, and a drop in donations.
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The problem is mainly rooted in the employment market, the report said. Low wages, temporary or part time jobs and the absence of workplaces were named as the main reasons.
The average net monthly income of aid recipients in 2008 was NIS 3,134 ($798), while their expenses were higher. Seventy-four percent of the needy said they would rather work than take welfare allowances, and according to the report an increase in the rate of needy people working full time jobs was recorded.
However, the report showed a 50% drop in permanent jobs and a 123% rise in temporary jobs since 2006.
In the field of education, the report showed a 33% increase in the rate of children being removed from family homes. Every fourth needy parent has been forced to remove one or more children from their home and send them to another facility due to financial difficulties, compared to 18% of parents last year.
Children in 70% of needy families have been unable to participate in school activities due to their parents' inability to finance them, while 80% of needy parents were unable to provide their children with equipment needed for school.
Furthermore, 87% of the needy were unable to provide their children with complementary education, such as private lessons and extra curricular activities, and only 18% are capable of funding academic education for their children.
Over 50% of the needy do not get the required medical treatment or medication due to their financial situation, and 62% of the needy do not have health insurance. Only 9% can afford dental care and 18% are chronically ill, while 10% of the needy said they know someone who died due to inability to fund medical care.
Despite these harsh findings, LATET said the urgency of the matter has been fading among the general public, with only 48% rating the poverty problem as needing the most urgent treatment, coming in third after security concerns and education.
Fifty-six percent of aid organizations reported a 27% drop in donations in 2008, with 78% of the organizations having a hard time meeting the demands of the needy, an 8% rise from 2007.
LATET Chairman Gilles Darmon and Director General Eran Weintrob published an announcement saying that during 2008 the poverty problem has gotten worse.
"The poor have gotten poorer and organizations' power to give has decreased significantly due to a drop in donations, the public's dismissal of the matter, the drop in the dollar rate, a rise in food prices, and the government's mistreatment of the matter.
"2009 will be a death blow: More organizations will collapse and more needy individuals will die as a result of lack of food and inability to receive medical treatment," the statement read.
"The poor don't need a security net, since they have already fallen; the poor need a bailout plan that includes the immediate allocation of resources and commitment to policies that will combat poverty and minimize social gaps as the main and central focus of any government that is formed after elections."
Five-hundred needy individuals were polled for the survey, along with 500 individuals from the general public that constitute a representative sample of the Israeli population. Data was also collected from 120 organizations operating in 80 towns throughout the country.
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