Marking the International Women’s day Thursday, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) published new data about the state of women in. Israeli women worked more in 2011, but the wage gap was still significant. According to the data, the rate of working women over 15 in 2011 was 52.6%, compared to 48% in 2001. In the civil workforce, the rate of unemployed women shrank to 5.6%, compared to 9.9% in 2001. Some 33% of those working were employed part time, but almost a fifth were doing so only because they could not find a full time job. Half of working women were employed by sub-contractors and not directly by employees.
The data also showed a significant rise in the rate of women employed in academic professions, from 39.7% to 47.5% over 20 years; adding that in 2011 34% of managers were women, compared to 16% in 1990. However, an in-depth examination of women’s professions reveal that 44% of women still work in low-paying, “traditionally feminine” professions. This includes teachers, secretaries and clerks, kitchen, cleaning staff and caretakers, where women make up 70% of the workforce.
A demonstration by social workers, Jerusalem, March 2011 (Photo: IBA)
Although wage gaps decreased in 2011, they remain high: Women earned in average 66% of men’s wages, and women with higher education degrees earn 77% of the wages earned by their male counterparts. CBS data suggested that the gap stemmed, among other reasons, from women’s relatively smaller work input – 36 weekly hours in average – compared to 45 weekly hours for men. However, comparing average hourly rates, women’s income was still only 84% of men’s, contributing to the fact that women constitute 68% of the bottom 10% and only 24% of top 10% of wage earners.
In general, women’s life expectancy in 2011 was higher than men’s – 83.4 compared to 79.7. Welfare data revealed that women over the age of 65 sought out social and welfare services more then men and double than their overall rate. The ratio was even higher for women over 75. The most recurring causes for social service assistance were social problems, old age, financial difficulties and medical problems. Four percent of applicants reported problems of violence. This number only includes those women who reported violence to social services.
