According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the number of haredi men joining the workforce has come to a standstill for the second quarter in a row.
The percentage of haredi men who currently work is less than 50%, and in the first three months of 2017, only 49.6% of haredi men worked in a recognized workplace.
Israeli newspaper TheMarker published these statistics and noted that the CBS has two definitions of ‘haredi.’ According to the broader definition, the number of haredi men in the workforce stands at 53.4%, still a dramatic drop from 2015’s high of 57.5%.
In the last quarter of 2016, the number of haredi men in the workforce rose only slightly, after a number of years in which the number of working haredi men rose consistently and dramatically.
In fact, the number of haredi men in the workforce broke 50% in the second half of 2015.
Meanwhile, the number of haredi women continues to stay constant at 73%.
When the government began cutting yeshiva stipends during the years 2012-2013, the number of married yeshiva students dropped by 8% per year. Previously, it had risen by 4% per year.
Married yeshiva students receive money for learning Torah full time, and do not work. In November 2016, government funding for yeshivas reached an all-time high, costing the Israeli government an additional 48 million NIS per year and bringing the total government outlay to 1.17 billion NIS annually.
