31% of the Israeli population was at risk of poverty in 2011, compared with 17% on average in the EU, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported, for today’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The population at risk of poverty is defined as people in households in which the disposable income per capita (after taxes and transfer payments) is less that 60% of the median disposable income per capita in the general population. Among EU member countries, Spain and Greece had the highest at-risk-of-poverty rates, 20%, still much lower than the average in Israel.
More alarming still, in 2011, 40% of Israeli children were at risk of poverty, compared with 20% on average in EU countries. In the same year, the rate of single-parent households with dependents (children 15 and under, and children between the ages of 16-24 who are still financially dependent on their parents and are living with at least one of their parents) who were at risk of poverty was 44%; compared with 41% in 2001, and 35% in EU member countries. The rise in the rate of dependent children rose also in Europe there the rate in 2001 was 32%.
In most EU countries, the rate of children living in no-worker households was 9.3%, up from 8% in 2001, while in Israel rates dropped from 11.6% in 2001 to 8.4% in 2011. According to these figures, the rate of children living in no-worker households is currently higher on average in Europe than in Israel.
The risk of poverty is higher in no-worker households, and the drop in this figure in Israel indicates that a larger portion of the population is entering the workforce. In 2012, the employment rate in Israel among people between the ages of 25-64 was 74% and, for the first time, it exceeded the average rate of 71.1% in OECD countries. This is an important achievement for the Israeli economy, which suffered low employment rates for decades, due largely to poor integration of Haredi (ultra-orthodox) and Arab populations in the workforce.
The cause of this rise is even more encouraging: Over the course of the past decade, the rate of employment among women held steady at 60% in OECD countries, while in Israel it rose to 70%. Israel also stands out in terms of unemployment: The rate of unemployed among 25-64 year olds was 5.9% in 2012, compared with 7% in OECD countries.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 17, 2013
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