ASSESSMENT OF ISRAELI POVERTY LINE AND CONSEQUENCES

ASSESSMENT OF ISRAELI POVERTY LINE AND CONSEQUENCES

BY DIDIER BERTIN - 13.JULY 2011

POVERTY LINE IN WESTERN COUNTRIES SUCH AS EUROPEAN UNION IS 60% OF THE MEDIAN REVENUE.

THE RETAINED FIGURE TO DETERMINE POVERTY LINE IN ISRAEL IS 317 EUROS AND HAS NO SENSE BUT PERMIT TO REDUCE THE POPULATION UNDER POVERTY LINE TO 24%WHICH IS NEVERTHELESS VERY HIGH AND IN LINE WITH EMERGING COUNTRIES.

THE FIGURE OF MEDIAN WAGE WOULD BE 1 600 EUROS IN ISRAEL AND SEEMS IN LINE WITH GDP AND POPULATION.

THUS THE POVERTY LINE SHOULD BE 960 EUROS ACCORDING TO WESTERN CRITERIA.

UNDER AN ASSUMPTION OF PROPOTIONALITY, THE POPULATION UNDER POVEERTY LINE SHOULD BE 960/1600 X 50% = 30%AND NOT 24%. THIS HIGH FIGURE IS IN LINE WITH THE HIGH GINI INDEX.

ISRAEL IS NOT COMPARABLE TO WESTERN COUNTRIES REGARDING THE SIZE OF THE POOR POPULATION AND EVEN NOT TO EASTERN COUNTRIES MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION BUT TO EMERGING COUNTRIES.

THIS SITUATION IS DUE TO A CLEAR CHOICE OF SOCIETY ADOPTED BY THE GOVERMENTS OF ISRAEL SINCE 2000 AND TYPICAL OF RIGHT WING CRITERIA.

SEE BELOW CLASSIFICATION OF ISRAEL AMONG SIMILAR COUNTRIES IN TERM OF LEVEL OF POPULATION UNDER POVERTY LINE BY DECREASING SHARE OF THE POOR POPULATION IN PROPORTION OF THE WHOLE POPULATION

% OF THE WHOLE POPULATION

GAZA FOR INFORMATION - 70 - FIGURE IN FAVOR OF A RETENTION OF THE CONFLICT

WEST BANK FOR INFORMATION - 46 - FIGURE IN FAVOR OF A RETENTION OF THE CONFLICT

AFGHANISTAN - 36

TANZANIA - 36

UGANDA - 35

PERU - 34.8

TOGO - 32

CAMBODIA - 31

BOSTWANA - 30.3

ISRAEL - 30 - CORRECTED FROM 24

TURKMENISTAN - 30

GHANA - 28.5

LEBANON - 28

BRAZIL - 26

PAKISTAN - 24

ALGERIA - 23