What is the economic, health, and social situation of the elderly? What is the extent of services for the elderly, and what are the patterns of development of these services? Are the elderly satisfied with their lives, their environment, and their economic situation? What are the main differences among sub-groups of the elderly? What is their geographic distribution, and how do their socio-demographic characteristics and the availability of services differ by region and locality? What are the main trends regarding the characteristics of the elderly and the services they receive over time?
The answers to these and many other questions are available in the 2008 Statistical Abstract. Over the years it has been published, the Abstract has become a key, highly valued tool for planners and policymakers, statisticians, researchers, and students.
As always, we have updated the ongoing database and added new data – for example, this is the first time we have been able to publish data on violence against the elderly from the Israel Police. A special chapter is devoted to a comparison of the elderly population in Israel with that in other countries. In presenting the data, we attempted to identify trends and changes over time and, as far as possible, to identify differences among population groups and among geographic regions.
Publication of the Statistical Abstract was made possible thanks to close cooperation with the Central Bureau of Statistics and the ministries and organizations that serve the elderly. We hope to continue to update, expand, and develop the Abstract and publish it annually, so that it may continue to serve policymakers and service planners, as well as researchers and students. The data provide an essential knowledge base for planning, as well as for a discussion of needs and solutions and the gaps between them.
The Statistical Abstract is produced by MASHAV – a national database for planning in gerontology, which is managed jointly by the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute and ESHEL – the Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged. The Abstract is published (in Hebrew) on the upgraded MASHAV website: http://www.jointnet.org.il/mashav/publications.php?cat=7&incat=0, where previous abstracts in both Hebrew and English are also available.