The Social Security System – 2007

These programs offer a safety net for individuals and families in the case of lack of work related income or reduced income or in the case of additional expenses in diverse circumstances. The programs focus on alleviating poverty; assisting individuals and families maintain a reasonable standard of living; dispersing income over an individual’s lifetime; helping meet additional expenses such as those related to child raising; providing incentives for the unemployed to join the labor market; compensating for loss or injury; redistributing resources; and enhancing gender equality. Public expenditure on state run social security programs in 2007 was NIS 42 billion, 41 percent of total social expenditure in the current year’s budget.

This paper appears as a chapter in the Center’s annual publication, Israel’s Social Services 2007.