Summary of a discussion on Monday, February 28, 2022
Following the publication of the State of the Nation Report 2021, a virtual meeting was held to discuss several of the topics on the public agenda addressed in the report, with a focus on issues of the labor market and welfare system in Israel. Participating in the discussion were Taub Center researchers Shavit Madhala, who specializes in the areas of labor and welfare, and Michael Debowy, whose specialty is the area of the labor market, as well as representatives of the labor branch of the Ministry of Economy and Hadas Fuchs, Director of Labor Market Research at the ministry.
To begin, Michael Debowy presented data on the impact of COVID on the labor market and described employment trends on the eve of the crisis. Debowy showed the rise in labor force participation rates particularly among Haredi and Arab women as well as Haredi men. He pointed out that labor force participation rates among Arab men had dropped prior to the crisis and then worsened as the crisis progressed. After this, he spoke about the connection between education, employment, and wages and showed that there is a positive connection between education levels and wages. He noted, though, that Arabs earn less than Jews at every level of education, although among those with the highest levels of education, there is a slight trend towards a narrowing of this gap.
With the outbreak of COVID there was a sharp increase in unemployment levels, particularly in the lockdown periods, but within a relatively short period of time, there was a return to the original levels. In geographic terms, there are differences in employment rates between the Center and the periphery: in the Tel Aviv and Center districts, employment levels returned to their pre-crisis levels by May 2021, while in the Haifa and North districts, they returned to their original levels in December 2021, and in Jerusalem and the South, employment rates are yet to fully return to their pre-crisis levels. In a breakdown by industry branch, certain industries were badly hurt by the crisis (like construction and accommodation and food services), while others, like communication, which is mainly composed of high tech companies, and other white collar occupations and the public sector, were barely affected by the crisis in terms of the number of their employees.
To read more on this subject in the chapter on the labor market in the State of the Nation Report 2021, click here
Taub Center researcher Shavit Madhala presented data on working from home in Israel. She showed that there was a large rise in the share of workers working from home in the course of the lockdowns and a decline in those rates of about 10‒15% in the periods following the lockdowns. In a breakdown by gender, during the lockdowns there was a substantial rise in the share of women working from home, particularly those with children. She also pointed out differences in the amount of work from home (part-time/full-time) in different industries and population groups. Among Arabs, for instance, there were particularly low rates of working from home.
Following this, Madhala presented findings on the response of the welfare system to the COVID crisis. She showed that in 2020, there was a substantial increase in government social expenditure, most of which in the area of welfare. Within welfare, the majority of resources were devoted to programs of social support, like unemployment benefits and monetary grants to self-employed individuals. With the outbreak of the crisis, there was a sharp increase in the number of unemployment beneficiaries, among other reasons, due to changes in the program and a widening of eligibility criteria. In contrast, in social investment programs, like vocational training and programs to encourage employment among target populations (Haredim, Arabs, single parents, and people with disabilities), there was a decline in 2020 — both in terms of resource allocation and uptake rates.
To read more on this subject in the chapter on the welfare system in the State of the Nation Report 2021, click here
Hadas Fuchs responded and told about her position in the Labor Division and the work of the government. She described in detail the areas of responsibility of the division, and particularly the activities to advance employment and vocational training, as well as the division’s way of relating to the challenges caused by the COVID crisis. Finally, Fuchs presented the website Avodata — a national initiative that collects and makes accessible information on areas of employment, wages, and training tracks. She also spoke of the work of the population employment administration which works to increase the employment rates in a variety of population groups using guidance centers for different sectors, as well as employment programs for older populations.
After these presentations, there was a discussion on the impact of the crisis on particular populations and the long-term influence from the socioeconomic and gender perspective. The meeting was opened to questions from the audience and there was a fruitful discussion around the issues presented.
Watch the full event (in Hebrew):