Poverty in Israel: Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox are the hardest hit

According to the latest annual report published by the Israeli National Insurance Institute NII, almost two million people in Israel live in poverty. This corresponds to 20.7% of the population. This is reported by The Times of Israel.

The areas most affected by poverty are Arab areas, where 38.4% of the population live in poverty, and the ultra-Orthodox community, where this is the case for 33% of the population. Both population groups are characterized by a large number of children.

Children are therefore also affected by poverty to an above-average extent: A total of 44% of all those who are considered poor in Israel are children, namely 872,400 out of a total of 1.98 million people who suffer from poverty. In contrast, senior citizens are better off than the average population in terms of poverty; the poverty rate in this population group is 12.8%.

According to the National Insurance Institute (NII), the minimum income below which a household is considered poor is NIS 3,324 (CHF 828) for a single person, NIS 6,648 (CHF 1,656) for a couple and NIS 10,637 (CHF 2,650) for a family with two children. The figures are based on an evaluation of the situation in 2023. More recent data is not available.