Background
The Commission for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter, the Commission) seeks to expand the available data on the situation of people with disabilities in Israel by publishing annual reports and promoting initiatives for the improvement of the related databases. At the request of the Commission, the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute has published annual statistical reports and presentations on people with disabilities in Israel since 2015. The annually updated data provide policy makers, professionals, researchers, activists, the media, and the public at large with information on the situation of people with disabilities in Israel compared with the situation of people without disabilities.
Goal
The goal of this presentation is to present an up-to-date picture of people with disabilities in Israel: the rate of disability; the severity of disability among various age groups; and the situation of people with disabilities compared with that of people without disabilities in various spheres of life, e.g., education, employment, economic status, personal resilience, and community resilience. The presentation also includes up-to-date selected statistical data on people with disabilities classified by population segment and gender.
Method
The researchers at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute conducted a secondary analysis of the data collected through the Social Survey of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) for 2021. The survey, aimed at examining the social and economic status of the population in Israel, has been conducted annually since 2002 among a representative sample of about 9,000 adults (aged 20 and over) living in the community. In addition, the presentation includes administrative data regarding students registered in 2022 with the Special Education Division at the Ministry of Education.
Estimates and adjustments for non-response bias were performed based on the following sources of information:
- The recent CBS Population Census (2008), for the calculation of estimates of institution residents (including residents of retirement homes, hostels, and assisted living residences).
- The Statistical Abstract of Israel (2022), for the calculation of updated estimates following adjustment for non-response bias in the Social Survey and the inclusion of population segments excluded from the survey (children and youth under 20; residents of unrecognized localities; and institution residents, e.g., residents of retirement homes, hostels, and prisons).
- The national study of children with disabilities in Israel, for the calculation of updated estimates of children with disabilities.
Key Findings
- The data indicate that there are gaps between people with disabilities and people without disabilities in almost all spheres of life examined, for instance,
- Education: 59% of adults with disabilities in the 20-64 age group (working age population) have a matriculation certificate, compared with 76% of adults without disabilities in the same age group.
- Employment: The employment rate of people with disabilities is lower than that of their counterparts without disabilities, and among those employed, more people with disabilities work part-time. There are also differences in the duration of employment at a specific workplace between people with and without disabilities – the rate of people with disabilities employed at a specific workplace for up to nine years is lower than that of people without disabilities, At the same time, more people with disabilities stay at the same workplace twenty years and even more.
- Wages: The wages of people with disabilities in the working age group are lower than the wages earned by their counterparts without disabilities. Consequently, 13% of people with disabilities cannot cover their monthly expenses, compared with 5% of people without disabilities.
- Leisure: Fewer people with disabilities engaged in social activities or spent time in public leisure sites, compared with people without disabilities. For instance, 79% of people with disabilities spent time with friends or family members, whether at home or outdoors, compared with 89% of people without disabilities.
- Social ties: 39% of people with disabilities in the 20-64 age group feel lonely frequently or from time to time, compared with 17% of their counterparts without disabilities.
- Emotional state: The rate of people with disabilities who are optimistic about their lives has increased over the years. Also, in 2021, there was a decrease in the rate of people with disabilities who felt stressed. At the same time, the gap between people with and without disabilities has been maintained over the years, and people with disabilities have been consistently less optimistic and more stressed, compared with their counterparts without disabilities in the same age group.
Citing suggestion: Nagar Eidelman, R., Konstantinov, V., & Barlev, L. (2022). People With Disabilities in Israel: Selected Statistical Data 2022. S-219-22. Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute. (Hebrew)