6 numbers that describe Israel’s economy. More than three-quarters of haredi Orthodox Jewish men and Arab-Israeli women don’t work. As of 2011, only 20.9 percent of haredi Orthodox men and 22.6 percent of Arab women work. That, along with high birthrates, is why Arabs and haredim are the two poorest communities in Israel. Arab women often don’t work because of cultural pressures to stay at home and lack of access to jobs, according to Taub’s research. Many haredi men choose to study Torah and live off government subsidies rather than work. “The haredi parties want a lot of transfers for their parties, a lot of money for their people,” Avi Weiss, Taub’s executive director, told JTA. “When you give them that money, they sit at home.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/6-numbers-that-describe-israels-economy/