A comprehensive study done by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (the Fellowship) and the Geocartography Institute found that 40% of Israelis are having trouble paying for basic expenses as requests made to the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services have increased by 50% since the outbreak.
“The survey results serve to underscore what most experts already suspected: Even though the medical emergency for the majority of the Israeli people is winding down, the economic and social impact caused by the COVID-19 crisis has been devastating,” Yael Eckstein, President and CEO of the Fellowship said. “We have much work still to do in the months to come to help the people of Israel recover," she added.
The survey serves as a representative sample of the population of Israel, as it was conducted among 600 Jewish and Arab respondents.
It found that 40% of participants are facing difficulties finding ways to pay for basic expenditures such as food, bills, and rent or mortgage payments, and 42.6% of surveyed participants aren't able to depend on their family members or friends for economic help.
Close to one in ten Israelis (9.6%) are having financial trouble putting food on the table, and a tenth of Israelis surveyed are in danger of being evicted from their homes, or having their electricity and/or water turned off. While 9.3% reported difficulty paying their mortgage or rent, another 8.6% are having trouble paying bills such as electricity, water, gas and municipality taxes.
A quarter of survey participants (24.7%) were put on unpaid leave or dismissed from their jobs, and among 14.1% of couples, both members of the couple lost their income. More than a fifth of the participants (21%) stated that they lost half or more of their household income because of the crisis. Over a tenth of the participants will have to return or have already returned to live with their parents because of the crisis.
“Having one or two members of a family dismissed from their jobs or put on unpaid leave creates an economic crisis that affects the whole family," said Tami Barsheshet, chairperson of the organization of social service managers in the local authorities.
Only a quarter (24.7%) said that their income was not affected at all, however a third of the participants expect that it will take them more than six months to recover from the harm caused by the coronavirus crisis.
"From the facts in the field that were gathered by the local authorities, there has been an increase of 50% in new requests made to local social service departments – and we expect that the economic crisis these families are experiencing will only get worse," Barsheshet added.
Some 13% of surveyed participants responded that they are already getting assistance or will be asking for assistance in the near future from non-profits or social service departments in the local authorities.
To address this growing needs, the Fellowship is currently distributing aid grants of NIS 700 (about $200) for the purchase of food, clothing, baby care supplies and medication to approximately 2,700 families that have contacted their local social service departments because they have collapsed economically due to the coronavirus crisis.This aid program was developed as a result of the large number of requests made by local social service departments around the country to the Fellowship, which reported a sharp increase in requests from citizens who have never before been supported by social services and are currently in a state of crisis.
In early March, when the crisis brought on by the pandemic was in its early stages, the Fellowship established a $5.5 million emergency fund that was used to purchase lifesaving respirators and other equipment for Israel’s hospitals.
"With the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, we recognized that this is a crisis unlike any we have ever experienced, and we immediately took action to assist tens of thousands of elderly people with food and purchased lifesaving equipment for hospitals,” Eckstein said.
“As the medical emergency is winding down, Israel is still facing one of the greatest economic crises in its history. Our main task right now, as Israel’s leading social welfare organization, is to help families and individuals who have lost their livelihood due to the coronavirus restrictions, survive this crisis until they get back on their feet."