Women in Israel earn 59% of men’s salaries, according to the Commission for Equal Opportunities at Work, which released its 2018 Global Diversity Report on Monday.
“These figures tell us a far more fundamental story,” President Reuven Rivlin said after receiving the report. “They tell us about the social and gender gaps in Israel, and whether we are managing to close them. They tell us who has opportunities and who faces open doors in the workforce and who does not, and whether the tools we have are creating social mobility, and for whom.
“Change begins with data and change requires transparent data. The data that is presented in this report are not just dry figures about the state of diversity and representation in the economy,” he said.
The report also includes information about other minorities, such as Arabs and Ethiopians, who encounter great difficulties in pay gaps and employment. According to the report, Ethiopians are not employed in any of the major branches of the economy. Ethiopian and Arab women earn less than 50% of the average wage, and Ethiopian women without an academic education are over-represented in the lowest-paying sectors. But Ethiopian women who receive a college education have a higher rate of entering the workforce.
Arab women earn around 60% of their Jewish peers.
Ultra-Orthodox men who have an academic education also have a higher rate of entering the work force, being the minority group that is best integrated in terms of representation and pay.
“A just society is one where everyone enjoys its fruits. The Israeli economy has never been in better shape, and one of the best measures of that is nearly full employment,” Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said. “But a strong economy and full employment should serve all Israelis – and when not everyone benefits from the success, we have to fix it.”