What are the income, health and social characteristics of the elderly? What is the extent of services for the elderly, and what are the patterns of development of these services? What are the main differences among sub-groups of the elderly? What is their geographic distribution, and how are their socio-demographic characteristics changing? What is the availability of services for them regionally and locally? You’ll find the answers to these and many other questions in the 2005 Statistical Abstract, which contains information relevant to Israel’s elderly population.
This is the eighth year of the Abstract’s publication. Since it first was published in 1998, the Abstract has become a key, highly valued tool for planners and policymakers, statisticians, researchers, and students.
In this Abstract we have updated the ongoing data, and added a wealth of data on the elderly’s health status, drawn from the recent national health survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics. This year, as well, we have expanded on the social status of the elderly, and have emphasized data on their financial situation, including the income and expenditures of households of elderly. A special chapter has been devoted to a comparison of the elderly population in Israel with that in other countries.
In presenting the data, an attempt has been made to identify trends and changes over time and, to the extent possible, to identify differences and gaps 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 those studying and conducting research. The data provide an essential knowledge base for planning, as well as for a discussion of needs and solutions, and the gaps among these population groups.
The 2005 Statistical Abstract is published by MASHAV – a national data base 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. English- and Hebrew-language versions of the Abstract may be viewed at MASHAV’s website: www.jdc.org.il/mashav.