|
The standard of living in Israel is high and is constantly improving. , Israel ranks 19th among 187 world nations on the UN's Human Development Index, which places it in the category of "Very Highly Developed". Israel also has one of the highest life expectancies at birth in the world. However, Israel still suffers from poverty with roughly 35.5% of Israeli families living below the poverty line in 2008, most of them Israeli Arab and Haredi Jewish families. According to a 2010 study by International Living, Israel has the 47th highest standard of living in the world. ==History== Following Israel's establishment in 1948 and victory in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War which began immediately afterward, the country was impoverished and lacking in foreign currency reserves. Living standards saw some decline in the first year after independence. Israel had to recover from the effects of the war, and saw a wave of mass Jewish immigration from post-war Europe, as well as Arab and Muslim countries, doubling the Jewish population in three years. The country was financially overwhelmed, and faced a deep economic crisis. As a result, a strict regime of austerity was put in place. Food, furniture, and footwear were heavily rationed. Rationing allowed for a meager 1,600 calories a day, with additional calories for children, the elderly, and pregnant women. Throughout the austerity period, living standards were preserved at tolerable levels, and the regime of strict rationing enabled the Israeli government to ensure that the entire population was adequately fed, clothed, and sheltered. In 1952, Israel and West Germany signed a reparations agreement. West Germany agreed to pay Israel financial reparations for the Holocaust, ultimately paying over 3 billion marks over a period of 14 years. The agreement went to force in 1953, when the first reparations payments arrived. As a result, most austerity restrictions were lifted that year; some remained in place, and would be gradually lifted throughout the following years. The families receiving the reparations payments saw a considerable increase in their standard of living; on average, they doubled their incomes.〔 Throughout the 1950s, Israel was heavily reliant on reparations payments from West Germany, and on financial donations from Jews around the world, especially American Jews. Israel used these sources to invest in its infrastructure and in industrial and agricultural development projects, which allowed the country to become economically self-sufficient. Due to this commitment to development in its first two decades of existence, Israel experienced economic growth rates that exceeded 10% annually. Average living standards rose steadily; between 1950 and 1963, the expenditure of an average wage-earner's family rose 97% in real terms.〔The Challenge Of Israel by Misha Louvish〕 Between 1955 and 1966, per capita consumption in Israel rose by 221% and in 1963 93% of the population had electricity and 97% had running water.〔Israel: A History by Anita Shapira〕 Israeli historian Tom Segev described the improvement in living conditions during the 1950s due to the rapid development of the country:〔Segev, Tom: ''The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust''. (2000, ISBN 0-8050-6660-8)〕 The new industrial and agricultural equipment created better conditions for the worker and the farmer. Soon, display windows began showing merchandise long absent; fruits, vegetables, and various food products. People were able to enjoy apples again and spread their bread with butter instead of margarine. Now it was possible to choose from a variety of clothes, shoes, furniture, paper goods, and electrical equipment. The supply did not equal what was available in developed countries, but it was enough to give the impression that the country was finally emerging from austerity... New power stations arrived, and there were fewer electrical outages. People could now have their own telephone lines and travel on railroad cars offering almost European comfort and luxury. From 1950 to 1976, Israel managed to raise its standard of living threefold. For instance, consumption of animal protein per capita, gr. per day rose from 32.2 to 49.4, while during that same period, the percentage of families owning an electric refrigerator increased from 2.4% to 99.0%. Family ownership of other durables also showed increases. From 1970 to 1976, the percentage of families owning a gas/electric range and oven rose from 5% to 51.8%, and a television set from 49.7% to 89.5%. From 1957 to 1976, the percentage of families owning an electric washing machine rose from 6.9% to 74.6%, and from 1955 to 1976, the percentage of families owning a radio rose from 54.7% to 84.2%. The percentage of families owning a car also increased, from 4.1% in 1962 to 31.2% in 1976. One aspect of daily life in Israel that set it apart from much of the world for many years was the absence of television, and then of color television. Television was only introduced in 1966, in schools as an educational tool,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Good evening from Jerusalem - Israel News, Ynetnews | Good evening from Jerusalem )〕 and regular public transmissions began in 1968. Even then, all television broadcasts were in black and white, at a time when American and European stations were switching to full-scale color transmissions. Color transmissions were initially banned due to fears of social inequality, although ordinary citizens found ways around this ban, and were only gradually introduced around 1980. In the 1970s, Israeli living standards were comparable with those of some European countries. However, the years following the Yom Kippur War saw stalled economic growth and increased inflation. Economic growth was on average 0.4% annually, and living standards saw minimal growth, and eventually became completely stagnant. This continued into the 1980s; the Israeli economy was in a dire situation following a financial crisis in 1983, and was saved by a 1985 economic stabilization plan which saw market-oriented reforms to Israel's economy, which had previously been heavily regulated. Despite these reforms, there was no immediate growth in quality of life; by 1989, living standards in Israel had not increased in more than a decade.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Allegheny Times - Google News Archive Search | Israel is a socialist basket case )〕 In addition to the 1985 stabilization plan, mass Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s brought many highly educated and skilled immigrants to Israel, and the Israeli government implemented effective macroeconomic policies. As a result, Israel experienced an economic boom, and living standards rose. In 2002, Israeli living standards began climbing rapidly, and the gap between Israel and many other Western nations in quality of life began to narrow.〔 In the early 2000s, Israeli living standards were comparable with those of Western Europe.〔Mort, Jo-Ann and Brenner, Gary:''Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today's Israel?'' (2003), Preface〕 In 2006, Israel was rated as having the 23rd-highest quality of life in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index.〔(UN report: Israel 23rd on quality of life list ) - Ynetnews〕 In 2010, Israel was ranked 15th in quality of life.〔(Israel ranked 15th in quality of life ) - Ynetnews〕 In 2011, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said that Israel had a standard of living two-thirds as high as that of the United States.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Israel Narrowing Standard of Living Gap with US - Inside Israel - News - Arutz Sheva | Israel Narrowing Standard of Living Gap with US )〕 In 2011, social justice protests broke out across the country over the high cost of living. In 2012, a report issued by the Taub Center stated that while living standards in Israel were rising, they were rising more slowly than those of other Western countries.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title='Israel falling behind Western living standards' - National News - Jerusalem Post | 'Israel falling behind Western living standards' )〕 In late 2013, the Israeli government approved a series of measures to lower the country's high cost of living. A law was passed to break up large conglomerates and end economic concentration, so as to encourage economic competition. A new committee was also formed to remove import barriers and lower prices, making them more comparable to prices abroad.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Competition committee to fight high cost of living | The Times of Israel )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Finance panel okays plan to end economic concentration - Israel Business )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Standard of living in Israel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|