Yaakov Lupu

Get to work

Government must boost participation of haredi men in workforce

Yaakov Lupu|Published: 08.06.09 , 11:26

A National Economic Council report from March 2009 shows that only 38% of all haredi men work for a living, compared to 75% of the general population in Israel. Many of these haredim are employed in their community’s religious and educational services. The situation is better among haredi women, as 54% of them work.

The report shows that the great poverty afflicting the haredi sector stems first and foremost from the very low rate of haredi men who join the workforce. The fact that most ultra-Orthodox families have many children worsens the distress. Despite the employment figures for women, it is harder for them to find good jobs given the cultural limitations they face, their low income levels, and the need to take a vacation from work after giving birth.

It is true that since 1996, haredi society had been trying to break free of the stagnation it has been mired in for dozens of years, when it failed to prepare its young people for life of action and work. It is also true that thousands of the community’s sons and daughters prepare themselves for life in the special schools set up for them.

However, we also need to take a look at the results, following 12 years of activity: Most of the participants and graduates of these programs are women and not men. For them there is no change, because in any case they were meant to work for a living and provide for their families, in line with a ruling by the Chazon Ish from the 1950s. This fact reinforced the dominant pattern in the community: Women prepare to join the workforce, while men devote themselves to studying the Torah. So while a few thousands of men sought to acquire training over the years, tens of thousands continue on the same path and are fully engaged in religious studies.

Any kind of professional training or academic studies requires basic knowledge of English, math, good Hebrew, and digital skills. As these subjects are completely forbidden to men at small and large yeshivas, haredi men give permission to acquire training encounter English and math studies at the age of 23 for the first time.

The difficulties they encounter are immense, as they need to start from scratch and acquire the high level of skills required within a short period of time. Many give up in the face of this obstacle, or make do with acquiring a low skill level.

Window of opportunity

The men who prepared to enter the workforce thus far chose to focus on two areas: Law and business administration. However, these two areas are flooded with graduates of top notch universities and colleges, and therefore haredi men must contend not only with a swamped job market but also with strong competitors for every job.

It is also true that a window of opportunity has opened in haredi society in respect to training and education for the purpose of joining the job market. The roots of this are found in the haredi community itself, which wishes to extract itself from poverty. Many haredim fear that at this time they are reaching the end of the road, thereby jeopardizing the pillars of haredi society and the country’s entire economy

The problem is mostly found among men. The training provided at age 23 and above is too late, too difficult, and brings poor results.

The historic window of opportunity may close down, and we would regret it for generations to come given the high birthrates of this community. Today already, the Orthodox constitute about 25% of young school children, even though they only comprise 10% of the general population. In about 20 years, the haredim will comprise about 20% of the general population, and 40% of young school children. Under such circumstances, I doubt whether Israeli governments would be able to prompt a change, which is very demanding and difficult at this time already.

This mission requires the Israeli government to act, and it cannot be addressed randomly and with occasional donations by wealthy individuals. This is the only way to free Israeli society from the dire straits it faces.