The story below is a translation from an article printed in Hebrew in Israel Today, the largest newspaper in Israel, on Oct. 5, 2020.
A new study published here for the first time examined the effect of the first lockdown on households using 2,300 Israelis from June 4 to early July.
The data show that 25% of respondents stated that they experienced an employment shock, meaning that they were fired or lost their job permanently or temporarily in the first three months of the corona. A socio-economic segmentation shows that a quarter of medium-income households between 8,000 and 17,000 reported changes in their employment conditions, a third of low-income households up to NIS 8,000 reported changes in their employment conditions, and only one-fifth of the high-income households over 17,000 reported changes.
The research was done by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, directed by Michal Grinstein-Weiss, in partnership with Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. In addition, 24% of mortgage owners and 29% of apartment tenants reported being on unpaid vacation or fired. Among those who experienced a job loss or a layoff, 16% reported difficulties in paying their rent or mortgage.