The Realities of Poverty In Israel

THE REALITIES OF POVERTY IN ISRAEL

Before Yael, a haredi woman, landed her job, she and her family of five were eking out an existence on the $475 a month her husband made studying Torah full-time at a yeshiva plus about another $100 from government child allowances. 

Her relatives helped when they could, but the family’s monthly income still left it well beneath the poverty level in Israel. 



Now Yael, who like the other women I interviewed in preparation for WomenTeachingWomen’s upcoming programs in Israel, asked that her real name not be used, is earning about $1,200 a month doing paralegal work at a company that exclusively employs religious women like her. 


She shudders when she recalls the dark days of unemployment and impoverishment. 

She talked about how scary it was not to have the means to shop for basic needs like food and clothes. 

That feeling has become familiar to more and more Israelis who constitute a growing underclass.

In a robust economy that has produced an abundance of millionaires, there are many groups of people who have been left behind.  Among those hardest hit by poverty in the Jewish state are fervently Orthodox Jews (Haredim), new immigrants and Arabs — three groups that despite their obvious differences have much in common socioeconomically. 



All of the women we interviewed expressed a great desire to change their lives by becoming economically self-sufficient.  Most of them had excellent skills that could be used to start a small business.  Business ownership not only gives these women the opportunity to change their financial status, but it also gives them the flexibility to work and care for their typically large families.  These women are motivated and excited to start to the WomenTeachingWomen programs.