http://www.globes.co.il/serveen
2004 Gini Inequality Index for Israel jumps 2.4% Sunday, August 7th, 2005 Zeev Klein/Globes The top 10% earns 12.3 times as much as the bottom 10%.
Families in the top 10% income bracket earn an average of NIS 30,448 a month, 12.3 times as much as the NIS 2,426 average earned by families in the bottom 10% bracket.
The per capita income ratio was wider individuals in the top 10% income bracket earned an average income of NIS 11,834, 21.2 times the NIS 557 earned by individuals in the bottom 10% income bracket.
The figures are from a Central Bureau of Statistics report today, based on a survey of 14,636 households, including 9,136 households headed by an employee, 1,364 households headed by a self-employed person, and 4,136 households headed by an unemployed person.
The average gross income of a family headed by an employee in the top 10% income bracket was NIS 37,863, 12.1 times the NIS 3,127 average gross income of a family headed by an employee in the bottom 10% income bracket. The top 10% bracket also paid NIS 9,366 more direct taxes, 40 times than the NIS 234 paid by the bottom 10%.
Families in the top 10% paid an average of NIS 7,141 in income taxes, compared with NIS 19 paid by the bottom 10%. Families in the top 10% paid an average of NIS 1,200 in National Insurance Institute payments, 18.5 times the NIS 65 average paid by families in the bottom 10%. Families in the top 10% paid an average of NIS 1,028 in health taxes, compared with the NIS 150 average paid by families in the bottom 10%.
The Central Bureau of Statistics’ report completely contradicts claims by Ministry of Finance officials that economic policy is neither harming the poor, nor favoring the rich.
The Gini Inequality Index for Israeli households in 2004 was 0.379, 2.4% higher than in 2003. The index rose 7.4% during the four years of the intifada and the government’s economic policy. Initial indications in are not encouraging, because the largest salary increases have been in the higher income brackets.