Navigate to News section

Want to Boost Israel’s Economy? Learn from Haredi Women

Ultra-Orthodox women show promising model for ending employment stagnation

by
Liel Leibovitz
June 17, 2015
Shutterstock
Jerusalem. Shutterstock
Shutterstock
Jerusalem. Shutterstock

Israel’s Ministry of the Treasury released its employment statistics for the first quarter of 2015 last month, and things aren’t looking too great: The percentage of gainfully employed Israelis dropped from 60.6 percent at the end of 2014 to 60.4, with the percentage of those employed full-time dipping 3.5 percent. It’s not exactly a disaster, but it’s enough of an alarm to motivate economists to look for creative ways to help more Israelis find work. They might find some inspiration by looking in an unexpected direction: Haredi women.

While only 45.7 percent of Haredi men are employed, 71.4 percent of Haredi women have jobs, on par with the national average. In part, this is thanks to municipal programs training Haredi women, especially those with older children, to meet the demands of their local market. Jerusalem, for example, lacks physical therapists to work with the city’s aging population; last week, the municipality marked the conclusion of a pilot program training 30 Haredi women, all aged 55 and over, to work as geriatric specialists.

Another popular approach involves granting microloans to encourage Haredi women to start their own businesses in their communities. Take, for example, Sara: trapped in a bad marriage, she decided to take the step, unusual in her circles, of getting a divorce. Among other hurdles, this meant having to find a way to care for her three children. She took a few business management and financial literacy courses, and felt a yen for entrepreneurship. She opened a bridal salon in her home, and, soon, business was booming. Securing a small loan from the Koret Israel Economic Development Funds—which, as the Israeli representative of global microfinancing leader Kiva, has issued more than $350 million in small business loans, many to women like Sara—she remodeled her tailoring atelier, purchased an air-conditioner, and installed an apparatus for properly storing the dresses.

“The most remarkable thing about Sara’s story isn’t only the difference it made in her own life, but how easily the model can be replicated among so many other struggling populations in Israel,” said Tal Keinan, Koret’s chairman. “Small loans go a long way, and there’s no better way to boost employment and help the economy then assisting people in starting small businesses that serve their communities.”

Liel Leibovitz is editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and a host of its weekly culture podcast Unorthodox and daily Talmud podcast Take One. He is the editor of Zionism: The Tablet Guide.