Welfare in Israel

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Welfare in Israel refers to the series of social welfare schemes in the Israeli government which are administered by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, and by Israel's national social security agency, Bituah Leumi. All residents of Israel must pay insurance contributions in order to qualify for welfare.[ citation needed ]

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Welfare spending

In 2014, Israel's public welfare expenditure amounted to NIS 86 billion ($22.8 billion). [1]

Old-age pensions

Bituah Leumi runs the state old-age pension system, paid to those who have paid insurance contributions for a minimum of 12 years. The basic old-age pension is NIS 1,531 a month, which rises to NIS 1,617 per month after the pensioner turns 80. A seniority increment is added based on the number of years the pensioner has paid contributions, up to a maximum of 50% of the basic pension. Additional increments are available to those living with spouses who do not qualify for an old-age pension, dependent children, and those who are not entitled to a pension or only a small pension which they must first waive. Income supplements to ensure a minimal standard of living is available to those with no additional sources of income other than the old-age pension. Health insurance contributions are deducted from pensions and any increments and supplements. [2] [3] Salaried employees not covered by collectively-bargained pension plans, though trade unions are legally required to have private pension plans to which employers must contribute to. Most self-employed persons are also legally required to have private pensions. [4] [5] [6]

Disability pensions

Individuals officially recognized as disabled who do not work or whose income is less than 60% of the average wage, as well as homemakers whose ability to perform household tasks has dropped by at least 50% due to disability, are entitled to a disability allowance from Bituah Leumi. The pension rate is determined by the level of disability, with the full pension being NIS 2,342 per month. Those deemed severely disabled to the point where they need constant assistance, or who require constant supervision to prevent a threat to their own lives or lives of others, are entitled to an attendance allowance pension. Individuals injured at work are entitled to allowances for professional rehabilitation to provide professional training and assistance in integrating into the workforce. Families with a disabled child are entitled to a child disability benefit beginning 91 days from the child's birth, up to age 18, though the right to the benefit is examined from time to time. Those on disability pensions are exempt from paying Bituah Leumi contributions. [7] [8] [9]

Unemployment benefits

Unemployment benefits are paid to individuals who lost their jobs and meet the conditions of eligibility. These individuals are registered with the Employment Service Bureau, which attempts to find them suitable work or job training upon losing their jobs. Those who were involuntarily terminated or can provide evidence of having left their jobs for a justified reason receive unemployment benefits immediately, while those deemed to have left their jobs for no justified reason start receiving unemployment benefits only 90 days after they register. Those who did not immediately register with the Employment Service Bureau are not jeopardized in their eligibility for unemployment benefits. The Employment Service Bureau regularly attempts to find work or job training during the unemployment period, and regularly reporting to the Employment Service Bureau is a condition for continuing to receive unemployment benefits. A person who was offered suitable work or training by the Employment Service Bureau but refused will only receive unemployment benefits 90 days after the date of the refusal, and 30 days' worth of unemployment benefits will be deducted for each subsequent refusal. Unemployment benefits are paid daily, with the amount calculated based on the employee's previous income over the past six months, but not exceeding the daily average wage for the first 125 days of payment and two-thirds of the daily average wage from the 126th day onward. [10] [11] [12]

Income support

Income support benefits are paid to households who are unable to support themselves on their own. The benefit is paid to those who reported to the Employment Service Bureau for work, but to whom no job or only a low-wage job is offered, those deemed incapable of working, children orphaned or abandoned by both parents, and those waiting for a decision on their claims to a disability pension provided certain conditions are met. The full income support benefit is paid to those who are not capable of earning income from work and not eligible for other programs, while income supplements are paid to those whose income, either from work or other sources, is lower than the minimum income required for subsistence. [13]

Related Research Articles

In the United States, Social Security is the commonly used term for the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program and is administered by the Social Security Administration. The original Social Security Act was signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935, and the current version of the Act, as amended, encompasses several social welfare and social insurance programs.

National Insurance Tax and benefit system in the United Kingdom

National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their families.

Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment or unemployment compensation, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compulsory governmental insurance system, not taxes on individual citizens. Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.

Payroll tax

Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their staff. Payroll taxes generally fall into two categories: deductions from an employee's wages, and taxes paid by the employer based on the employee's wages.

A disability pension is a form of pension given to those people who are permanently or temporarily unable to work due to a disability.

Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is an unemployment benefit paid by the Government of the United Kingdom to people who are unemployed and actively seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and is intended to cover living expenses while the claimant is out of work.

Employee benefits Non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to normal wages or salaries

Employee benefits and benefits in kind include various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Instances where an employee exchanges (cash) wages for some other form of benefit is generally referred to as a "salary packaging" or "salary exchange" arrangement. In most countries, most kinds of employee benefits are taxable to at least some degree. Examples of these benefits include: housing furnished or not, with or without free utilities; group insurance ; disability income protection; retirement benefits; daycare; tuition reimbursement; sick leave; vacation ; social security; profit sharing; employer student loan contributions; conveyancing; long service leave; domestic help (servants); and other specialized benefits.

Income Support is an income-related benefit in the United Kingdom for some people who are on a low income, but have a reason for not actively seeking work. Claimants of Income Support may be entitled to certain other benefits, for example, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Child Benefit, Carer's Allowance, Child Tax Credit and help with health costs. A person with capital over £16,000 cannot get Income Support, and savings over £6,000 affect how much Income Support can be received. Claimants must be between 16 and Pension Credit age, work fewer than 16 hours a week, and have a reason why they are not actively seeking work.

Social security, in Australia, refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by Australian Government to eligible Australian citizens, permanent residents, and limited international visitors. These payments are almost always administered by Centrelink, a program of Services Australia. In Australia, most payments are means tested.

In Italy, unemployment benefits are guaranteed by the Constitution. Article 38 states "[...] workers have the right to the provision of financial support sufficient to meet their needs in case of accidents at work, ill health, disability, old age and involuntary unemployment [...]". Esping-Andersen traces in this persistency the origins of the chronically high Italian unemployment rates.

The Italian welfare state is based upon the corporatist-conservative model, as described by Gøsta Esping-Andersen, one of the world's foremost sociologists working on the analysis of welfare states.

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a United Kingdom welfare payment for adults younger than the State Pension age who are having difficulty finding work because of their long-term medical condition or a disability. It is a basic income-replacement benefit paid in lieu of wages. It is currently being phased out and replaced with Universal Credit for customers on low incomes, although the contribution-based element remains available.

Welfare in France includes all systems whose purpose is to protect people against the financial consequences of social risks.

Taxation in Israel include income tax, capital gains tax, value-added tax and land appreciation tax. The primary law on income taxes in Israel is codified in the Income Tax Ordinance. There are also special tax incentives for new immigrants to encourage aliyah.

Welfare in Finland

Social security in Finland, or welfare in Finland, is, compared to other countries’, very comprehensive. In the late 1980s, Finland had one of the world's most advanced welfare systems, one that guaranteed decent living conditions for all Finns. Since then social security has been cut back, but still the system is one of the most comprehensive in the world. Created almost entirely during the first three decades after World War II, the social security system was an outgrowth of the traditional Nordic belief that the state was not inherently hostile to the well-being of its citizens, but could intervene benevolently on their behalf. According to some social historians, the basis of this belief was a relatively benign history that had allowed the gradual emergence of a free and independent peasantry in the Nordic countries and had curtailed the dominance of the nobility and the subsequent formation of a powerful right wing. Finland's history has been harsher than the histories of the other Nordic countries, but not harsh enough to bar the country from following their path of social development.

Unemployment benefits in Spain are contributory and non-contributory. They are part of social security system in Spain and are managed by the State Public Employment Service (SEPE). Employers and employees contribute to the unemployment contingency fund and if an unemployed person fulfills certain criteria they can claim an allowance which is based on the time they have contributed and their average wage. A non-contributory benefit is also available to those who no longer receive a contributory benefit dependent on a maximum level of income.

Bituah Leumi, is Israel's national social security agency. It was established on 1 April 1954.

As unemployed according to the art. 2 of the Ukrainian Law on Employment of Population are qualified citizens capable of work and of employable age, who due to lack of a job do not have any income or other earnings laid down by the law and are registered in the State Employment Center as looking for work, ready and able to start working. This definition also includes persons with disabilities who not attained retirement age and are registered as seeking employment.

Pensions in Israel consist of a state old age pension system, a private pension system which employees are legally required to participate in and that is supervised and regulated by the government, and a pension system for civil servants.

Unemployment in Hungary measured by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office shows the rate of unemployed individuals out of the labor force. The European Union's own statistical office, Eurostat also makes reports and predictions about the Hungarian job market and the unemployment rate in the country. The KSH's most recent unemployment data shows the unemployment rate for men 15-74 to be 3.3% and 4.1% for women.

References

  1. ↑ "Social welfare spending in Israel - Taub Center". 27 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Old Age - Benefits | ביטוח לאומי". Btl.gov.il. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  3. ↑ "Seniority increment - Old Age | ביטוח לאומי". Btl.gov.il. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  4. ↑ Gavious, Ilanit; Spivak, Avia; Yosef, Rami (1 February 2009). "Pension reform in Israel under mandatory pension law". Pensions. 14 (1): 4–13. doi: 10.1057/pm.2008.33 .
  5. ↑ "As of January 2017 – Obligatory Pension contributions for the self-employed – Goldfus Insurance". Goldfus-ins.co.il. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  6. ↑ Focus, Expat. "Israel - Social Security and Welfare - ExpatFocus.com".
  7. ↑ "General Disability Pension".
  8. ↑ "Patients Rights Association in Israel National Insurance (Bituach Leumi) and disabilities". www.patients-rights.org.
  9. ↑ "Disabled Child - Benefits | ביטוח לאומי". Btl.gov.il. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  10. ↑ "Number of days of entitlement to payment per month - Period of entitlement | ביטוח לאומי". Btl.gov.il. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  11. ↑ "Conditions of eligibility - Unemployment | ביטוח לאומי". Btl.gov.il. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  12. ↑ "Calculation of benefit - Benefit rates | ביטוח לאומי". Btl.gov.il. 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  13. ↑ "Income Support - Benefits | ביטוח לאומי". Btl.gov.il. 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
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