On the occasion of the International Day for the Fight against Poverty, which is marked today, the question arises: what is the role of governments in the poverty phenomenon?
For the past three decades, the employment policies of Israeli governments have been quite passive.
Apart from supporting the subsidization of academic studies, which the stronger ones actually enjoy, few budgets have been invested in employment promotion.
The issue is branded as assistance to welfare populations, and has been addressed accordingly.
The perception was that the market would "fix itself".
Employers will hire and train employees as much as they need to.
After all, we are a start-up nation, the economy is growing and unemployment is low.
Pats on the shoulder.
This approach remained unchanged in the employment crisis following the Corona.
Allowances and unemployment benefits were seen as the main remedy. Although a reasonable budget for vocational training was approved, it was very partially utilized. More workers in places where the unemployment rate is particularly high.
The crisis was also not used to upgrade workers' skills.
The government has determined that the economy is expected to recover quickly, and no further investment by the state is needed.
Really?
The economy has been fully open for months, but the unemployment rate is not falling rapidly.
Since the cessation of unemployment benefits, it has even risen slightly. It means: Hundreds of thousands of desperate unemployed are stuck at home, their condition is not about to improve, and the devastating impact of unemployment on them and their families could last for years.
The reason for this is clear from an analysis of the characteristics of the unemployed.
More than 80% of them have no post-secondary education.
Before the Corona they worked, but with the onset of the crisis, employers gave them up.
The skills of most of them are no longer suitable for the new world of work, and the jobs offered today are not suitable for them.
Stopping the support payments without giving the fired people tools and assistance to return to the world of work is no less a crime.
The unemployed should, and still should, become professionals - teach them the required professions, in collaboration with training institutions and employers.
If they do not take each and every one in this direction and quickly, they will sink into the depths of unemployment and quickly degenerate into poverty.
The fight against poverty needs to go through another arena, which is still a government taboo: job creation.
Do it today all over the world.
Invest in energy source development, social services, transportation, health.
Grants are given to employers who open businesses in places plagued by unemployment.
Why not with us?
After all, this is an investment that will ensure growth, an increase in consumption, fewer people in the welfare and incarceration systems, and more workers who pay taxes.
Today, more than ever, an active policy in the world of work is required.
We do not have to lag behind in this matter at the bottom of the table of developed countries.
Adv. Tali Nir is the CEO of 121 - an engine for social change
