Poverty levels in the haredi (ultra orthodox) community have continued to grow substantially over the last three years, says a survey.
The survey, which was conducted by Dr. Daniel Gottlieb of the Bank of Israel commissioned by the Van Leer Institute and Ben Gurion University in conjunction with economic consultant Yehuda Eliraz found there had been alarming increase in the intensity of poverty among ultra orthodox families, despite the continuation integration of haredim in the labor market.
Gottlieb and Eliraz said that families with two breadwinners had were no better off, adding that any campaign against poverty must be built around the long term reduction of poverty levels, in a similar fashion to other macroeconomic targets.
Also key to reducing poverty was the need to improve educational facilities, in cooperation with haredi community leaders.
Gottlieb and Eliraz attributed the increasing poverty in the haredi sector to three main causes: - Failings in the elementary educational system, principally for boys, with specific deficiencies in tuition of English, maths and computer skills, all of which are key skills central to the creation of future earning capacity.
- Size of haredi families.
- Long term Torah study by haredi men, specifically those in the Lithuanian stream, a trend that has led to low levels of haredi participation in the work force.
Gottlieb and Eliraz noted, however, that there were signs of a positive trend emerging, as more haredi men and women joined the work force. The survey found that the rate of haredi men joining the labor force since 2002 has increased at a higher rate than that of secular people. It also found that haredi women working part time were moving to jobs with longer hours.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 28, 2006