Standard of Living in Israel

Although standard of living in Israel is modest and is constantly improving, Israel still suffers from poverty with roughly 20.5% of Israeli families living below the below the poverty line in 2008.

Housing

Since its establishment, the State of Israel has declared that adequate housing for all residents is a matter of the highest priority. Massive budgets have been invested in solving housing problems, and construction is one of the country's most important industries. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6696/is_199504/ai_n26467935 Housing policy.(and standard of living assessment)(Statistical Data Included)] find articles (undated), accessed 18 August 2008]
Residential construction accounts for a large share of the economy in terms of both investment and product. Nearly half of the state's development budget is earmarked for housing. In 1992, residential construction investment consumed 6.2 percent of the GNP.

While the overall standard of living in Israel is rising, a report published by the National Insurance Institute (NII) indicated that poverty in Israel has not shown a commensurate decline. [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3506852,00.html ynet] ynet (02.14.08, 17:31), accessed 18 August 2008]

Food

Clothing

Consumer goods

Income distribution

Poverty in Israel

Despite Israel being a highly urabanized western country, it's poverty levels are still moderately high. Poverty levels remained relatively stable in 2006-2007, the report showed. Roughly 20.5% of Israeli families live below the poverty line in 2008, a slight increase from last year’s 20%. Moreover, 24.7% of Israel’s residents and 35.9% of its children live in impoverished families.

Data for the 2006-2007 NII survey indicated that 420,000 impoverished families currently reside in Israel (1.5 million people [http://www.amit.org.il/Learning/English/Poverty/index.htm amit.org.il] amit.org.il (02.14.08, 17:31), accessed 18 August 2008] ), including some 805,000 children. Poverty indicators for families with a single wage-earner have risen from 22.6% during the last NII survey to 23.9% in the current one. Paradoxically, Israelis’ standard of living appears to be on the rise, as is the number of working individuals in the country, which has risen by some 2% since 2006. Real wages earned by Israelis have also increased by some 1.6%. Minimum wages in Israel have also increased by nearly 3.6%. According to the report more and more Israelis are working, and staying poor regardless. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/956401.html haaretz] haaretz (04:51 21/02/2008), accessed 18 August 2008]

See Also

*Human Development Index
*Economy of Israel
*Poverty threshold

References