The Social Security System

This system focuses on providing allocations to varied population groups. Despite the growth in parts of the system’s components in the past years, the overall expenditure is lower than that of OECD countries and in terms of output it is lower than its average level a decade ago.

In some areas of social security, changes were made which increased accessibility to allowances and their overall level of support, especially with regard to the elderly and persons with disabilities, and, of late, also for families with children and the unemployed.

Conversely, the programs designed for people who live in poverty in Israel provide very limited assistance. The limited assistance by the social security system in various areas seriously restricts it ability to cope effectively with very high levels of disparity and poverty in Israeli society.

This paper appears in the Center’s annual publication State of the Nation Report – Society, Economy and Policy 2009.