The Center for Ethiopian-Israelis in Ashdod was established in 2002 as a part of the Neighborhood Centers Project of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and local authorities. At the end of that year, a survey of all Ethiopian-Israelis residing in three neighborhoods in Ashdod was conducted, in order to collect data on this population for planning appropriate services and interventions.
Changes that occurred in Israel since then, especially the deterioration in the employment status of vulnerable populations and the changes in the Income Support Law, were expected to affect vulnerable populations, including Ethiopian-Israelis. Therefore, a follow-up study of Ethiopian-Israelis who participated in the 2002 survey was conducted in order to examine changes in main life areas. Another goal was to evaluate Ethiopian-Israelis’ awareness of the existence of the Center, its use and satisfaction with it. The follow-up study was conducted in September-December 2004 among single-parent and two-parent families and young single persons, who were sampled from the population of the 2002 survey.
Findings indicate an improvement in the status of Ethiopian-Israelis in Ashdod in most of the life areas examined. Following are selected findings:
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Married men and women have made progress in proficiency in Hebrew, mainly in relation to employment.
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The rate of employment among young married men (up to age 44) has increased. Among older married men (ages 45-65), the rate of participants in the labor force has not changed.
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Among young women, the rate of employment has increased significantly. Among all women, the percentages of job seekers have sharply increased, and, in all, there has been a sharp decline in the rate of non-participation in the labor force.
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The percentages of employed and job-seeking single young persons have increased considerably. Among those who are not employed, a large percentage are studying and a smaller percentage are still in military service.
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There has not been much change since 2002 in children and youth’s attendance of formal education frameworks. There has been some increase in the percentages of children and youth, especially those ages 6-13, who attend informal education frameworks, such as after-school programs and local youth culture centers.
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Since 2002, the percentage of families with schoolchildren who have all the required school supplies has significantly increased; at the same time, the percentage of families who have no school supplies has decreased considerably.
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Data regarding the Center demonstrate that it has played a substantial role in the life of the Ethiopian-Israeli community in the three neighborhoods in Ashdod: awareness of its existence is almost universal, a significant proportion of the population uses its services in various areas, and satisfaction with it is high.
Data were presented to, and discussed by, the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption’s senior staff.
The study was initiated by the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, which funded it jointly with the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute.