Latet: Poverty in Israel up 50% due to Covid-19 crisis

Poverty in Israel, which was already high, has risen by more than 50% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession, according to the 2020 report by Israel poverty and food insecurity NGO Latet.

The report found unprecedented poverty in Israel with the percentage of households living in economic distress rising from 24.1% to 38.6% over the past year. The number of families living below the poverty line rose from 20.1% last year (582,000) to 29.3% this year (850,000).

The report also found that the middle class in Israel shrank by 15.5% in Israel due to the Covid-19 crisis and only 25% of Israeli households are doing fine economically.

Latet CEO Eran Weintraub said that more people have fallen into poverty that have gotten sick from Covid-19.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 10, 2020

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