WOMAN IN ISRAEL | israelis-feminist

ISRAEL

Women in Israel have enjoyed gender equality since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Israeli women are active participants in all spheres of Israeli life. The Israeli Declaration of Independence states: “The State of Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.”

Israeli law prohibits discrimination based on gender in employment and wages, and provides for class action suits. In 2012, Israel ranked eleventh out of 59 developed nations for participation of women in the workplace. In the same survey, Israel was ranked 24th for the proportion of women serving in executive positions.

At the end of 2013, there were 2,986,000 women aged 15 and up living in Israel. Life expectancy was 80.3 years for men and 83.9 for women. Women constituted 57.8% of people employed in academic professions in 2014.

“There is a woman at the beginning of all great things”

Alphonse de Lamartine

Israeli statistics:
•    At the end of 2013, there were 2,986,000 women aged 15 and up living in Israel. Women 65 years old or older constituted 11.8% of the total female population, compared to 9.4% among the male population.

•    Divorce in Israel is on the rise. In 2012, 13,685 couples divorced (8.6 for every thousand married women)

•    Life expectancy at birth in 2013 was 80.3 years for men and 83.9 for women.

•    In 2014, the percentage of women in the work force who were unemployed was 5.9%, similar to the percentage of unemployed men.

•    The average monthly salary for women wage earners in 2013 was NIS 7,280, while for men it was NIS 10,683. The average difference in wages was 31.9%; the median difference was 26.7%. This is partly because women on the average work fewer hours than men; the gap between the hourly wages of women and men was only 14.4%.

•    The hourly wage of Arab women was higher than that of Arab men by 6.1%. Part of the reason is that the average educational level (years of study) of Arab women is higher than that of Arab men.

•    For the first time the annual International Women’s Day report includes figures on self-employed. In 2013, 31.9% of the self-employed were women. The average monthly wage of self-employed women was NIS 7,406 (1.7% higher than female wage-earners). Among self-employed men, the average wage was NIS 12,440 (14% higher than male wage-earners).

•    Women constituted 57.8% of people employed in academic professions in 2014. Women formed only 32.8% of people in management positions. In high-tech, women constituted 35.5% of the total workers.

•    Two-thirds of the people employed in traditionally female professions - caregivers, retail or wholesale salespersons, secretaries, bookkeepers, day-care workers, school teachers - were in fact women. 32% of all women workers were employed in these professions.

•    Students: In the 2013-14 academic year, there were 312,500 students in various institutions of higher education in Israel; 57.3% of them (179,200) were women. In contrast, in 1969-70 women constituted less than half of the students (43.3%).

•    Social aspects: 86% of women expressed satisfaction with their lives, similar to the percentage of men. 51% of the women were satisfied with their economic situation, while 49% were not very or not at all satisfied with their economic situation.

•    About 1.6 million women had driving licenses in 2013, 43% of the total number of licensed drivers in Israel. About 7% of the women drivers in Israel were convicted of driving offenses, compared to 15% of male Israeli drivers.

•    The number of women who were victims of sexual harassment or theft in 2014 was higher than the number of male victims. The number of women who were victims of violence was lower than the number of male victims.