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Last update - 11:00 29/03/2007

Report: Majority of Israeli Arabs are not part of labor force

By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

The majority of Israeli Arab adults are not part of the labor force, compared to most Jewish Israeli adults who are. Such was the finding of the Employment Index, part of a statistical project evaluating equality in Israel.

Among the Jewish population aged 15 and above, 57 percent work, compared to only 39 percent among the Arab citizens. One major contributing factor for this discrepancy is the fact that only 17.6 percent of Arab women work, compared to nearly 55 percent of Jewish women.

A closer evaluation also shows that the Arab population is employed at very high rates in less profitable jobs, such as construction. The average wage in construction is NIS 6,287, and the rate of Arabs employed in that field is 4.6 times higher than that of Jews.

On the other hand, in very profitable fields, the numbers of Arab workers is significantly lower than that of Jews. For example, in banking, finance and insurance, in which the average wage is NIS 13,500, there are 3.7 times more Jews than Arabs.

Yasser Awad, a Ph.D. student in statistics at the University of Haifa, and leading the Suitable Representation in Employment project on behalf of Sikkuy - The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, believes that the labor market and the government exclude Arab citizens from various jobs.

Contrary to the trend around the world, Awad says, the drastic rise in education among the Arab population has not resulted in a change in employment.

For example, Arabs constitute 4 percent of managers in the economy, but their education is in the top 10 percent compared to Jewish managers.

"Arabs do not succeed in being integrated in the prestigious fields or in key positions in the Israeli economy," Awad says. "The reason for this can only be one - they are viewed, by the government and the private sector, as a demographic threat and not as skilled and educated human capital," he explains.

The Employment Index, which is part of the Equality Index, published earlier this week by Sikkuy, stands at 0.38, in a scale between 1, meaning complete inequality in favor of Jews, and -1, designating complete inequality in favor of Arabs. The results clearly show inequality in favor of the Jews.
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