Haredi Employment Rate Matches Rate Of Non-Haredi Grade School Dropouts

"Due to the fact that haredi boys don't learn the core curriculum at all after eighth grade, and that their curriculum until that point is deficient, it turns out the preparation of haredi men for the workplace is identical to the preparation that uneducated Israeli men get, and has caused a consistent and ongoing drop in their chances of finding work."

Haredi Employment Rate Matches Rate Of Non-Haredi Grade School Dropouts
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

The rate of haredi male unemployment in Israel is strikingly similar to the unemployment rate of non-haredi male elementary school dropouts, a new study has found.

Haredi boys don’t study secular subjects after eighth grade, and therefore their readiness to function in a modern job market is similar to the readiness of secular Jewish and Arab Israelis with no or almost no formal education, the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel reportedly found.

“At the end of the 1970’s, when Israel’s standard of living was relatively low, education was not imperative for finding a job. Today, in a competitive and global Israeli economy, employment rates among the uneducated are below 50 percent…the data reflect the lack of employment opportunities that the haredi education system gives its sons,” Dan Ben-David, the Taub Center’s executive director said in a statement. “The haredim just don't have the tools to get by in the labor market, and that means hundreds of thousands of haredim who can't find work," Ben-David noted.

Employment rates for males with four years or less of elementary school education 30 years ago were between 80% to 90%. Now those employment rates have dropped to 35% and 50%. Haredi male employment almost perfectly match the employment rates of this group, the Taub study shows.

Haredim make up about 8% to 10% of Israel’s population, but because of the high haredi birth rate, more than 20% of Israel’s elementary school students are haredi.

"Due to the fact that haredi boys don't learn the core curriculum at all after eighth grade, and that their curriculum until that point is deficient, it turns out the preparation of haredi men for the workplace is identical to the preparation that uneducated Israeli men get, and has caused a consistent and ongoing drop in their chances of finding work," Ben-David pointed out, noting that the decline in the haredi employment rate could not be attributed to a drop in motivation to work, whether that drop in motivation came from an increase in welfare subsidies or for any other posited reason. The matching drop in employment rates among uneducated non-haredi men proves that, Ben-David noted.

Comments

[dlz]

I don't understand how the equal employment rates prove that the low level of Charedi employment is not due (at least partly) to lack of motivation? The fact that the numbers are equal does not prove that the reasons are the same.

[Barry]

Employment rates for males with four years or less of elementary school education 30 years ago were between 80% to 90%. Now those employment rates have dropped to 35% and 50%. Haredi male employment almost perfectly match the employment rates of this group, the Taub study shows.

Why this big drop from 80%-90% to 35%-50%? Is this because there is a lack of opportunities today compared to 30 years or is there a lack of interest in working among the less educated.

[Shmarya]

Posted by: dlz | November 12, 2012 at 08:21 AM

30+ years ago the motivating factors promoting haredi unemployment were much less than they are today, but the rate of haredi unemployment when compared to the control group stays about the same.

That indicates that the motivating factors – higher welfare benefits, child allowances, theology, etc., play only a small role in keeping haredim unemployed, and that the main reason for their unemployment is their substandard education.

[Moshe in Israel]

?מה חידוש הזה

[jancsibacsi]

Shmarya --It is also the fear of being assimilated,fear of loosing their imagined holy self rightous status,and to join the real world where you are on youre own especially when youre not educated

[rebitzman]

@Moshe in Israel

No - it's not news. It's just pathetic.

[David]

Why is there a picture of Cossacks in this story?