The Singer Series: State of the Nation Report 2015

The Singer Series annual State of the Nation Report: Society, Economy and Policy in Israel, the Taub Center’s premier publication, gives a unique historical and international perspective on Israel’s long-run socioeconomic trajectories, highlighting their primary determinants and offering policy options.  The Report provides the Israeli public and policy makers with vantage points that are both broad and deep in highly relevant social and economic issues, with research spanning the fields of economics, education, labor, health, and social welfare, as well as various other special topics.

We are pleased to present the Herbert M. Singer Annual Report Series, State of the Nation Report: Society, Economy and Policy in Israel 2015. The 13 chapters that appear in this volume deal with a wide variety of subjects and are based on unique studies that show the many faces of the socioeconomic situation in Israel today. There are many things to learn about social policy from the subjects surveyed in this year’s book; and there are many things to take away about how to improve the welfare of Israel’s citizens. Israel’s population at year’s end stands at some 8.5 million people – about 0.2 percent more than last year. According to OECD data, Israel’s per capita GDP in 2014 was about $33,000, which is about NIS 126,000. The GNP, current to the beginning of 2015, increased by about 2.5 percent (Central Bureau of Statistics), and per capita income also increased. This annual report, which is divided into five sections, details the significance of this basic data for the everyday life of Israelis.