The number of Israeli families living under the poverty line tripled from 1988 to 2001, according to a Bank of Israel survey published yesterday.
During the 13-year period examined by the survey, the number of families living below the poverty line increased from about 100,000 to 300,000, the central bank researchers found. The National Insurance Institute defines the poverty line as half the median income.
From 1988 to 2001, the proportion of the population living in bitter poverty - officially defined as less than half the official poverty level - has not changed.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Zevulun Orlev, reacting to the survey's release, said one of the major reasons for the country's growing poverty was the central bank's high interest policy. The central bank is one of the factors that have caused damage to the workforce, increased unemployment and caused many families to cross the poverty line, Orlev said.
In its survey, the Bank of Israel said the National Insurance Institute's capacity to combat poverty was hampered by the violent fluctuations in the economic environment, as Israel veered between sharp acceleration and deceleration of economic activity. The problems were exacerbated by demographic changes.
Although the NII helped support an ever-widening swathe of the population, the central bank found that more and more people defined as "potentially poor" - not receiving allowances - crossed the line into poverty. The conclusion, says the central bank, is that giving allowances to increasing numbers of people cannot solve the problem of poverty.
The study, written by Dr. Oded Levitan, examined poverty by demographic sector - ultra-Orthodox, non-Orthodox Jews, non-Jews, and by family size (small - up to three children, and big - four kids and up), and by the age of the family head (young - women up to 60, men up to 65; and elderly). NII allowances were most effective at saving non-Orthodox Jewish families, the central bank found.
Among the group defined as "young," the ultra-Orthodox had the highest proportion of families requiring allowances. That sector also had the lowest proportion of income from work, by a huge margin. Among the elderly, the non-Jewish sector had the most requiring support.
Among the poverty-stricken "young," the non-Jewish sector boasted the highest proportion of income from work - 48 percent. Among non-Orthodox Jews that proportion is 45 percent, while NII support provides 35 percent of their total income. In the ultra-Orthodox sector, work provides only 23 percent of their income and the NII allowances provide 44 percent.