Chanting “Who cares about missiles when there isn’t money for diapers,” and “What’s the point of security when I can’t afford daycare?” the parents pushed strollers and walked their young children up Ben-Zion Boulevard to the intersection outside the Habima National Theater, where they were met by tent city protesters.RELATED:J'lem: Police stop donkey convoy en route to gay paradeSteinitz to Histadrut: If you want to talk, let's talkHunger-striking IMA head to reach J’lem on footThe protest march was organized on Facebook by a group of six mothers, who described the difficultly of raising children in a country with skyrocketing real estate prices and nurseries – that charge, on average, NIS 3,000 per month per child – as well as the high cost of formula and diapers, and the number of school-vacation days that require a babysitter.The Tel Aviv protest was part of a nationwide series of marches held by parents in Rishon Lezion, Givatayim, Holon, Modi’in, Ariel, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Herzliya, Kfar Saba, Ra’anana, Rehovot, Haifa, Ness Zionna, Sderot, Beersheba and Petah Tikva.The organizers list as their demands a law that will make education free from the age of three months (currently it is from age three), price regulation for products including diapers and formula, an extension of maternity leave, an end to the extra fee for strollers on public transport, equal pay for mothers and further tax credits for parents.
One parent taking part was Eli Elbaz, 35, of Petah Tikvah, the father of two boys aged four and 18-months.“We can’t make ends meet because each month we spend NIS 4,500 on daycare, which is almost my wife’s entire salary,” said Elbaz.He said he works as an electronic engineer and makes an “okay salary” of about NIS 8,000 per month, but still has to ask his parents for around NIS 500 per month for groceries.He laughed when asked if he is ever able to set aside any of his monthly income to save for his children’s future post-secondary education.Another parent, 33-year-old Noga Cohen, expressed similar frustration at the price of raising her two-and-a-half-year- old son.“I make NIS 5,000 per month and day care is NIS 3,000. The problem is that education is free only after age five or six. This is the most important issue,” she said.Cohen, who lives in Tel Aviv, said her life wouldn’t be any cheaper if she lived outside the city, “because there you need a car to get everywhere and that would be thousands of shekels in additional expenses per month. So people who say it would be cheaper in the periphery are wrong.”