Poverty and Employment Issues for Minority Groups

This chapter looks at Israel’s social chasm between the majority of Jews in Israel’s population and the Arab and ultra-Orthodox minorities. The chapter starts by setting out the vast differences in socio-economic outcomes between these minorities and the rest of the population. These are explained in part by differences in education systems and infrastructural investment in the different communities, but also cultural influences which affect family size and employment behaviour. Socio-economic outcomes of the Arab minority are also affected by limited investment in active labour market policies, unequal access to social services, and failure to implement legislative provisions to tackle discrimination and apply employment quotas. The male ultra-Orthodox Jews or Haredim engage in religious studies rather than labour force participation. Public policy supports this lifestyle by means of exemptions from military service, stipends for religious students and recently increased child allowances. This chapter ends with a summary of the main conclusions.