A new report released by UNICEF shows that Israel is fourth in the developed world in child poverty, following Greece, Latvia, and Spain. Since 2008, child poverty in Israel has increased from 35.1 to 35.6 percent.
Rabbi Idit Lev of Rabbis for Human Rights
Haaretz: Israel is fourth in the developed world for child poverty, Unicef says
Rabbi Idit Lev, Director of RHR’s Social Justice in Israel department, responds:
This new report is yet another reminder of how dire the situation is in Israel. Poverty is an on-going issue in our society, and if it continues to be ignored, it will explode in all of our faces.
In June 2014 the Alaluf Committee, tasked by the Welfare Ministry with tackling the issue of poverty in the country, gave a number of important recommendations which, if implemented, would fight poverty by cutting it in half. The government, however, has refused to implement the recommendations, citing the cost of 8 million NIS as too high. Instead, the Welfare Minister has announced that a total of 1.7 million NIS will be used towards the recommendations, an amount that is not nearly enough to even make a dent in the problem.
Until the government is willing to take poverty in Israel seriously enough to invest in solutions, these types of damning reports will continue.
The post New Report: Israel fourth in child poverty in the developed world appeared first on Rabbis for Human Rights.