1 of 5 Israeli wage earners in poverty

A new study inside Israel reveals economic growth was only benefiting wealthy Israelis.

 

Conducted by the Adva Institute, thestudy displayed a frightening and gloomy portrait of the situation of Israeli community.

 

The gaps between Israel's rich and poor are only growing, the institute says, despite the impressive economic growth registered on the national level.

 

The socio-economic policy has only increased the gaps in Israeli community between rich and poor, say Adva researchers. This is the central claim of the institute's comprehensive study of the social situation in 2007. "Since 2003, Israel has enjoyed an economic growth, but the social gaps are not shrinking," concludes the report.

 

According to the study, the income gap between the top and bottom deciles in society continues to grow. The average monthly income of the top 10 percentile was over $10,000. The CEO of the average publicly-traded firms earns 49 times the minimum wage and 22 times the average.

 

The annual wage of a CEO in one of the largest 25 publicly-traded firms is much larger still: in 2006 these CEO's earned an average annual salary of $2.5 million. The incomes of those at management level has seen a dramatic increase in recent years – in 2003, that same CEO earned $1 million.

 

Despite this growth, the majority of Israeli wage earners (over 60%) earned less than $1,450 a month last year. The researchers at the Adva institute calculated that the average Israeli wage-earner would have to work 12 years before accumulating the monthly salary of the average CEO of a big company in Israel. Furthermore, the study shows that 19% of workers were living under the poverty line in 2006.