Welfare Budgets for Israel’s Elderly Population

The review points to an increase in the allowances provided by the National Insurance Institute and the success of these benefits in distancing the elderly from the poverty line. Yet, the level of transfer allowances has deteriorated over time in relation to the rise in the standard of living in the economy. Along with the allowances, many services are provided for the elderly, some of which serve a large portion of the elderly population (i.e., long-term care benefits), while others, such as assistance with housing, are intended for more specific groups. The dispersion of budgets and services intended for the elderly among different government ministries adversely affects the ability to follow up on the implementation of funding, leads to wasted resources and causes incomplete utilization of benefits by the intended beneficiaries of the allowances and services.

This paper appears as a chapter in the Center’s annual publication, State of the Nation Report 2014, Dan Ben-David (editor).