Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Meretz faction, chairman of the Labor and Welfare Committee, MK Lazimi, MK Zoabi and MK Ben-Ari announced this morning (Thursday) in a joint statement that they have reached agreements to raise the retirement age for women. Expanding assistance to underprivileged older women.
In recent days, the Ministry of Finance and MKs from the coalition, the chairman of the Meretz faction, MK Michal Rosin, the chairman of the Labor and Welfare Committee, MK Efrat Reitan of the Labor Party and MK Naama Lazimi of the party took part in discussions on the reform of raising the retirement age for women. Labor, MK Jada Rinawi Zoabi of Meretz and MK Meirav Ben-Ari of the Yesh Atid party.
The joint statement said that "it was agreed to promote the reform, when beyond the amount of NIS 630 million already set in the government decision, the social safety net will be significantly expanded by hundreds of millions of shekels, including unique grants for underprivileged women in old age, to reduce possible impacts." The outline supports raising the retirement age for women while encouraging the continued employment of women and the integration of women who have been re-ejected into the labor force. "
Summary Principles:
It was agreed to double the budget for a work grant (negative income tax) in favor of encouraging continued work.
The Ministry of Finance has responded to the Knesset members' position, so that a total of NIS 130 million will be added to the budget for labor grants for women.
In addition, an outline was agreed to remove bureaucratic barriers to receiving the work grant, so that instead of receiving the grant a year later and through an employee request, the employee will receive a work grant immediately after starting the outline through an automatic mechanism after a one-time registration for each eligibility period. She has exhausted all her rights.
It was also decided that for women over the age of 62, who dropped out of the labor market before the age of 60, exhausted their right to unemployment benefits, their entitlement to vocational training and a training scholarship and failed to return to the labor market, NIS 40 million will be allocated for assistance to these women. 7 years, to be summed up for the second and third readings.
In addition to the existing entitlement to full unemployment benefits, it was agreed to double the amount for the training and placement period for women who dropped out of the labor market at the age of 60-57, so that it will stand at NIS 80 million.
The period will last five months, during which time they will be entitled to an increased subsistence allowance of NIS 4,000, which will be conditional on the completion of the training and which will not exceed the previous salary.
In case the training period is longer - the subsistence fee will be paid for the entire period (for example for a course lasting 8 months).
The state is committed to providing a reasonable supply of training to all women who wish to participate in the program.
In addition, it will establish a mechanism for supervising the provision of training.
At the same time, it was agreed to increase the income support pension for women over the age of 62 until retirement age, for five years, in the amount of NIS 700 per month.
A total of NIS 150 million will be allocated for the entire period.
It was decided to include the entire outline, including the assistance and budget tools for the trainings, in the state budget base;
And for full lip accessibility of all mechanisms.
The announcement also states that legislation will stipulate that once every two years, the Ministry of Finance submits a report to the Finance Committee on how to implement the complementary tools set forth in legislation and the government decision and the effect of the outline on employment of women of relevant ages.
