More families were living below the poverty line in Israel in 2015 than in 2014, and the poor have become poorer, a report by the National Insurance Institute revealed Wednesday. However, the report found that the overall poverty rate fell slightly and the number of elderly people and children living in poverty in 2015 was lower than in 2014, especially in the ultra-Orthodox sector. According to the report, 1,712,900 Israelis were living in poverty in 2015, among them 764,200 children, to make for an overall poverty rate of 21.7%, slightly less than the rate of 22% in 2014. However, the number of families living in poverty rose from 18.8% in 2014 to 19.1% in 2015. A total of 460,800 families lived in poverty in 2015. Israel has previously been found to have the highest percentage of people living in poverty and the highest levels of income inequality of any country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The report also found that the Gini inequality index of disposable income has decreased by 1.6%. The decrease in 2015 is the result of a middle class that has benefited from what amounts to a 6.8% increase in the minimum wage and positive news from the employment sector. According to the report, poverty levels among families with one provider have increased, as have poverty levels in the Arab sector. The report found that 53.3% of Arab families lived below the poverty level in 2015. In the haredi sector, however, an increase in income has led poverty levels to drop significantly, from 54.3% in 2014 to 48.7% in 2015. There was also a decrease in the number of single-parent families living below the poverty line. In 2015, 21.8% of these families were poor. Among the general population, the poverty rate in 2015 stood at 21.7%. Thirty percent of children and 21.7% of the elderly were poor. These trends show a decrease in poverty levels among larger families with children, in contrast with increasing poverty levels among families without children. The statistics are based on a Central Bureau of Statistics survey of 9,000 households in Israel. The report also found that the standard of living in Israel rose in 2015, and as a result, so too did the poverty line. According to the current standards, a person living on less than 3,158 shekels ($821) a month is considered poor. Government stipends have not been updated to reflect these standards, which is why the report found the poor have grown poorer and that the poverty has grown. The NII expects Israelis will soon feel the effects of government decisions to deal with the problem, primarily by increasing the minimum wage. In July 2016, the minimum wage was raised to 4,825 shekels ($1,255), and it will be further raised to 5,000 shekels ($1,300) in 2017. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, who heads the NII, said that "an increase in the minimum wage contributes significantly to an improvement in the social situation. I am also of the belief that the steps taken in the past two years will contribute to a decrease in the magnitude of poverty in the future."
Government report finds more families living in poverty
Although poverty rate fell overall, poverty rate of families rose in 2015, National Insurance Institute finds • Fewer children and elderly live in poverty, especially in ultra-Orthodox sector, report says, but more single-income families and Arabs.
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