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Families are struggling with the cost of living: "Classes for children are being reduced because it is starting to make it difficult" | Israel Hayom

2023-05-31T03:41:45.703Z

Highlights: Three families reveal their daily struggles with the endless price increases, the difficulty of making ends meet, and the accumulated concessions. "Shopping at the supermarket has become thousands of shekels more expensive, we hope the government will act, we are collapsing under the burden of the cost of living", says one mother. "The need to manage and support the house creates ongoing chases and difficulties," says one father. "There are daycare and maternity expenses that are constantly growing at a very rapid pace," says another mother.


Three families reveal their daily struggles with the endless price increases, the difficulty of making ends meet, and the accumulated concessions • "Shopping at the supermarket has become thousands of shekels more expensive, we hope the government will act, we are collapsing under the burden of the cost of living"


The price increases in the economy, which we are informed of every day, in all areas of consumption, have a dramatic effect on many families in the economy. These middle-class families are forced to cut expenses that are only rising and collapsing under the burden. These expenses range from food consumption to an increase in the interest rate, which means an additional hundreds of shekels a month.

We spoke with three families who told us about the significant increase in expenses, about supermarket expenses that have skyrocketed by hundreds of shekels a month, about the cuts they are forced to make, such as extracurricular activities for children, and the fact that vacations are nothing to talk about.

Yariv Raz

Lawyer, divorced, lives in Haifa with his partner and father of four.

"We feel like we're suffocating under the burden of the cost of living. The cost of living crosses borders. Prices in the supermarket have increased significantly by tens of percent. A basket that cost me 600-500 shekels now costs 1-000,800 shekels in one purchase. Price increases are felt indescribably. We've cut expenses. We went out to restaurants a lot, but today going to a family's restaurant costs about 1,000 shekels. I own a law firm, earn quite a bit, and yet I can't handle this burden.

The Raz family, photo: courtesy of the family

"The interest rate raised my mortgage by almost NIS 1,000, and I took it out less than a year and a half ago. Price increases are found in all areas of life: in food products, in departures, in attractions that have become unattainable. If once we could save, today it is a pocket disadvantage. I earn above the average in the economy, and I still feel it. Only measures of reducing taxes and VAT will succeed in helping in terms of the cost of living, otherwise it will be impossible to exist. You see in many people who earn above average the difficulty of saving – and that's a survival difficulty.

"I find myself weighing every expense. I don't have the open hand I had a year and a half ago. The price increases increased my expenses by 10,000-5,000 shekels a month. Shopping at the supermarket costs NIS 2,000 more a month. We find ourselves reducing classes for children because it's starting to make it harder.

"I emphasize that the cost of living transcends borders, and residents feel it strongly in their pockets. I hope that there will be significant actions from the government's perspective that will cut taxes and VAT."

Dina Ben Yitzhak

36 years old, from Kfar Saba, married, mother of two and director of youth programs at the Aluma association.

Ben Yitzhak says: "We moved to the center of the country from the south after the birth of my eldest son. When we decided to bring a child, my husband was looking for work and said we'd move to a place where he could find work, where the salary would be 3,000 shekels higher, which is the price of private daycare. Since then, we have entered a career race.

Dina Ben Yitzhak, Photo: Avi Mizrahi, Icon Productions

"I've always worked, but in terms of the scope of the work it has swelled to very large proportions. Many of my friends don't live that way - they live in Tivon or Arad and manage to get by.

"The need to manage and support the house creates ongoing chases and difficulties. This creates a situation of blackmail and harms parenting. We brought children in old age from the desire to do it best, and in the end we are really tired.

"In terms of current expenses, they are constantly growing and at a very rapid pace. We're working more to make more revenue and meet expenses.

"There are expenses for private daycare and maternity and diapers. We live in an apartment in an old rented building. We bought an apartment at Mehir LaMishtaken in Green Yavneh and we rent it out, and as mentioned, we live in my husband's work area.

"Following the increase in the interest rate in the economy, our interest rate increased by NIS 800 a month, which is a high cost. Everything goes up. The cost of my daughter's daycare also jumped. I'm considering registering it by 16:00 P.M. and absorbing the overtime at work, because it doesn't make sense to pay those amounts. The cost of private dormitories is disproportionate.

"During COVID-19, many people did their thinking and didn't return to these jobs, because it doesn't provide what you need to live. My sister-in-law is an Israeli who lives in Italy and works much less. When she arrives in Israel, she's in shock and can't get used to the prices again."

Sarit Hacham

Sarit Hacham from Jaffa is the mother of five children, two of whom live with her - an 11-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and motor impairment and a 5-year-old daughter.

The Hacham family, photo: courtesy of the family

Hacham talks about the difficult daily coping. She and her husband don't work, and her husband recently underwent open-heart surgery. The family lives on disability allowances, with large debts to municipal taxes, and despite the hardship, they are not entitled to a property tax discount. Nor did they reach a settlement of the debts for payments.

Naturally, every shekel counts in Hacham's situation, and her family's financial situation was difficult even before the wave of price increases.

"They come to seize things with the police, the children were at home, and now paying a lawyer is very difficult. We live off social security and welfare, and now welfare doesn't give either, because there's no budget.

"The products in the supermarket have also become very expensive – you can't go into the supermarket, because with 200 shekels you can't buy anything today."

Smart will probably not be entitled to food stamps for the needy - a move promoted by Aryeh Deri: "I didn't get anything from the state - absolutely nothing. Deri cares only about his chair and not about the people who need his help. I chose Shas, and I'm really disappointed in them."

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2023-05-31

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