Report: 86% of Israelis satisfied, though 29% are poor
Survey conducted by Central Bureau of Statistics in 2007-2008 shows top 20% of wage earners in the European Union earn 4.9 times that of bottom fifth, while in Israel top fifth makes 7.5 times more than bottom 20%. According to poll, 21% of Israelis passed on food in 2007 due to financial troubles
How did we surpass the Europeans? Maybe because the survey was conducted in 2008, at the height of the financial crisis that hit the continent and had not yet reached Israel. Two years prior to that, 87% of Europeans reported that they were happy, as compared to 83% of Israelis.
According to poverty and welfare indexes, Israelis don't have many reasons to be pleased. While the upper fifth of wage earners in the EU makes 4.9 times the amount of the bottom fifth of income earners, the rate in Israel is 7.5.
These gaps explain, among other things, why 29% of the population in Israel is in danger of lapsing below the poverty line (23% are already below it), while in the EU the rate is 16.5%.
The difference between Israel and the EU is that in Israel there are two populations with lower representation in the work force – the ultra Orthodox and Arabs.
Europeans have problems with large groups of migrant populations, but they participate more in the work force than the two aforementioned groups in Israel. That is not to say, of course, that Israel will leave the situation as is, as it seeks to be a legitimate member of the developed world.
Also according to the CBS survey, in 2007 21% of Israelis reported that they had passed on food due to financial constraints (15% of Jews, 50% of Arabs). This rate is significantly higher than the figure in Europe, which stood at 11% that year.
The survey also indicates that the rate of respondents in Israel who say they can't cover household expenses is slightly lower (12%) than the average in the EU (14%). In Italy, the rate of respondents who could cover household expenses was the highest among EU member countries, and stood at 20% in 2008.
Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Rabbi Moshe Gafni responded to the report by saying, “Those in the government determining economic policy must understand that beyond the strong, stable economy that we have here, society is measured not only by the money that it produces, but also by reducing the gaps between rich and poor. The gaps are growing wider in Israeli society, posing an existential threat to the country and representing a ticking social time bomb.”
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