Every year the National Insurance Institute publishes the poverty data in the State of Israel from the past year. Every year there is a big shock at the sight of the data and very few solutions. A year passes, new data are published and it is evident once again how easy it is to collect data on poverty, and how difficult it is to the point of being almost impossible to reduce the dimensions of poverty and ensure food security for all the country's residents. Now we will refer to the hard data emerging from the report published at the end of 2023 about the poverty data in Israel for 2022.
18.5% of Haifa residents live in poverty
A report on the dimensions of poverty for 2022 shows that the percentage of the poor in Haifa stands at 18.5% (compared to 17.7% in 2021). The dimensions of poverty are determined using the poverty line, which is an index that describes the minimum income required for a person or a family. If the person's or family's income is lower than the established index, he or they will be considered to be living in poverty.
The poverty line varies from year to year and from country to country. In Israel, it is calculated as 50% of the median income per capita and takes into account both half of the median and the number of people in the family. In 2022, the poverty line was NIS 3,076 per capita.
The poverty line in Haifa
In Haifa in 2022, 18.5% of families are below the poverty line, 16% of individuals are considered to live in poverty, 19.7% of children live in poverty and 11.8% of retirees are below the poverty line.
Haifa compared to the rest of the country
Compared to 18.5% below the poverty line in Haifa, in 2022 there were 1.98 million residents living below the poverty line in Israel, 873,300 children and 152,500 elderly, which reflects poverty of 20.9% among the general population, 28.2% among children and 12.7% among the elderly population. The National Insurance report also shows that compared to other countries in the OECD, the State of Israel does not invest much in welfare and promoting economic independence, two parameters that can lead to a reduction in the dimensions of poverty.
How will the 'Iron Swords' war affect poverty in Israel?
In the report written at the end of 2023, there is also a reference to the 'Iron Swords' war, which broke out in October 2023 and will have an economic impact in the future. The report calls for financial assistance to those who were financially affected by the war so that in the future we will not see more difficult data than what we are seeing now.
Haifa compared to the other big cities
The report also examined cities with over 80,000 residents. Among these cities, the city with the highest poverty rate is Modi'in Illit, where almost every second resident is poor (49.7%) followed by Jerusalem with 38.1% of residents below the poverty line. Among the cities with over 80,000 inhabitants, Haifa is placed ninth with 18.5% of the inhabitants below the poverty line. In the North District, the percentage of residents below the poverty line is 22.5%, so the percentage of the poor in Haifa is lower than the entire district.
"I don't need the poverty report, I see poverty all day in front of me"
Shimon Sebag, the founder of the "Yad Ezer Heber" association, is very worried about what he sees around him every day in the city of Haifa and he has encouraging news about what is going to happen next: "I don't need the poverty report, I see the situation in the city and more and more people are coming To us to get clothing, to get a hot meal in our specialty houses. More and more people come to us after power cuts. I meet more and more people who come to us because they don't have money for medicine.
It is sad to see that the capital of the north has become the capital of poverty. The largest city in the north, Haifa, is also the city with the most residents living in poverty - more than Kiryat, Nahariya and Kiryat Shmona. In addition, the situation is getting worse with the state of war. The economy will not get better, but will only get worse, if we don't know how to stop it. With poverty there are also side effects such as crime, drugs and vandalism. There's nothing to do, it goes together."
Haifa Chabad Rabbi Yehuda Ginzburg: "People help soldiers and evacuees, and forget people whose refrigerator is empty"
Haifa Chabad Rabbi Yehuda Ginzburg explains that this report concerns each of us: "The poverty report is very serious, very painful and should motivate action. We are in a situation where there are so many people who need help, and it is not wise to say only who is wrong, it is necessary to say what to do. Everyone should look at the people around them. For example, we at Chabad Haifa take care of 150 elderly Holocaust survivors for lunch. Recently we have been receiving requests from people who used to receive help, and suddenly the people stopped helping them and started helping the soldiers, the evacuees. Of course, this is very important, but there are people who do not have Food in the fridge.
Dear residents, look left and right, see what you can do to help. The associations cannot help everyone. We need to take care of a situation where we as citizens can live in peace and tranquility.'
In 2022, the poverty line was 3,076 NIS per capita. A man works as a sequencer at construction sites. His wife does not work, he has 3 children and his reported income is 10,000 NIS. That is: in terms of the dry data, below the poverty line. Except that the same sequencer bought himself a car A job, for NIS 200,000. Of course, he did not register the car in his name, but in the name of his uncle's company, so as not to harm the benefits he would receive as a "poor family".
Every month, the same sequence earns another 8,000 shekels in black, not reported - in 2-3 renovation works in apartments and houses that he does at the same time as his work at construction sites. His wife babysits in the mornings for two children of a relative who works. For this she earns another NIS 2000 per month. That is: the family's real income is far above the poverty line. But - a poor family.
And this is how the poverty and black labor industry works in Israel. This is how the data is inflated. Increased birth rate and hope you are below the poverty line.
From that point you are 'in need' and it doesn't matter if you have property, if you have a rich uncle who helps you, or if you didn't report another source of income. Simple and easy.
The constant lie of "poverty" in social security reports and welfare associations:
20% black economy in Israel, most of which is in those sectors that star in the poverty reports.
Those sectors have developed a sophisticated industry of fraud and 'black' work in order to evade taxes.
Would you be surprised to hear that most of the poor in Israel live in apartments and houses they own? How does this miracle happen?
The rental market in Israel is too expensive for the poor. anomaly? No. Most of the rental market in the big cities where housing prices are high.
Most of the fake poverty and the black market in sectoral settlements where the housing is cheap (or built independently and pirated...
That is: while you are paying a mortgage of hundreds of thousands of shekels, or millions of shekels, there are poor sectors... in three-story villas
And in new apartments that miraculously cost half or a third and miraculously, those poor people could finance it for themselves.
Below the poverty line - in the reported income. And what about the unreported? You don't dare check it anywhere.
20 percent black economy = tens of billions of shekels. where is this money And why doesn't it appear in the reports??
In my opinion....Haifa residents and poor Israeli residents must take a non-bank loan and leave the country
Yes of course, in Iruba the Muslims are waiting for them only, go breathe the air of Haifa with the aromas of Lebanese smoke, an article by a typical Schnorer, that a gentleman who helped a friend will cut his salary, and the inflated salaries of the trillion unnecessary associations with the businesses, like the headquarters of the kidnapped over a billion shekels. There are no hungry people in Israel, there is conduct Incorrect, cell phone and nails for example before food and education.
Sad but interesting