The workforce

This effect of education on the motivation to participate in the workforce also exists to some extent among women in the Jewish sector but is much more significant among Arab women.

By ALON KUPERERD
Women in the work force in Jerusalem and Israel, by employment status, 2014 (photo credit: JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR ISRAEL STUDIES)
Women in the work force in Jerusalem and Israel, by employment status, 2014
(photo credit: JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR ISRAEL STUDIES)
The term “workforce” refers to the persons in the population aged 15 and over who are employed or are seeking employment.
At the end of 2014, some 69 percent of Israeli Jews aged 15 and over participated in the workforce – i.e., were employed or sought employment – in comparison to 47% among the Arab population.
The rate of unemployed persons among Jews in Israel was 6% of the workforce and 8% among Arabs.
In Jerusalem, the rate of participation of Jews in the workforce was 59% – lower than the average for Israel. Similarly, the rate of participation of Arabs in the workforce in Jerusalem was comparatively low, at 40%.
When analyzing the data by gender, we see that among Jewish men the rate of participation in the workforce in Israel was 72%, while in Jerusalem the rate was 57%.
Among Arabs, the rate of participation of men in the workforce in Israel was 66%, a bit lower than the rate in Jerusalem, which was 68%.
The rate of unemployed persons is similar for the Jewish and Arab sectors and for the Israeli average and Jerusalem average, standing at 7%.
In Israel, 66% of Jewish women participated in the workforce in 2014, in comparison to 61% of the Jewish women in Jerusalem.
Some 6% of the Jewish women in the workforce in Israel were unemployed, while in Jerusalem the percentage of unemployed women was 8%.
The rate of participation of Arab women in the workforce in Israel at large, at 28%, was much lower than that of Jewish women. In Jerusalem, the rate of participation of Arab women in the workforce was 13%, which is lower by more than half in comparison to the national average.
Ninety percent of Arab women in the workforce in Israel were employed, meaning that among Arab women in Israel, there was an unemployment rate of 10%. In Jerusalem, 85% of Arab women in the workforce were employed, amounting to an unemployment rate of 15% among the workforce.
These data regarding participation of Arab women in the workforce in Jerusalem reveal that even when an Arab woman decides she would like to be employed, her chances of finding a job are lower than the chances of an Arab woman in Israel.
In regard to the impact of the level of education on workforce participation, it is noticeable that among Arab women in Jerusalem the rate of participation in the workforce was higher among women with a higher level of education. Some 8% of women with secondary-school education participated in the workforce. Some 2% of all Arab women living in Jerusalem have attained a master’s degree, 66% of whom are in the workforce.
In Israel at large, 28% of Arab women with secondary school education participated in the workforce, compared with 88% of Arab women with master’s degrees.
This effect of education on the motivation to participate in the workforce also exists to some extent among women in the Jewish sector but is much more significant among Arab women.