IPSOD First Wave Preliminary Results

IPSOD reveals that Israelis prefer Wisconsin Style Welfare-to-Work programs rather than monetary hand-outs

A new survey, conducted by the polling firm Dahaf, on behalf of the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS), reveals that more than 77.5% of the Jewish population in Israel supports the idea of a "Wisconsin plan" in the Jewish State. The "Wisconsin plan" requires welfare recipients -who are physically and mentally able to work- to join the labor force in order to receive welfare benefits. The Israel Panel Study of Opinion Dynamics (IPSOD), a new national panel survey conceived by (JIMS), contains a special section on welfare reform and other policies thought to be effective in combating the cycle of poverty in Israel.

The results of the survey clearly show that the vast majority of Israelis think giving a job to an unemployed person is a higher level of help than offering monetary hand-outs. It is fascinating to note that this was also one of the central positions of the great Jewish philosopher Maimonides in the Middle Ages.

As part of IPSOD, a total of 1,006 individuals, representative of the Jewish population in Israel (with a margin of error of 4%), were interviewed by phone between February and March 2008. The respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the following statement; "Should the State require that people must work in order to receive welfare benefits". The vast majority, 77.5%, agree that welfare benefits should be tied to work compared to only 11.4% that disagree.

The survey further asked interviewees if they agreed with the following statement: "reducing welfare benefits to make working for a living more attractive."A total of 54.7% agreed with this statement compared to 28.1% that disagreed, showing overall support for policies that would reduce welfare benefits to recipients able to join the work force.

IPSOD clearly points to Israelis' strong support for welfare reforms based on the Wisconsin plan first introduced in Israel in 2004. These results are not surprising and are in total agreement with the Jewish tradition of Maimonides who teaches in the Mishneh Torah that the highest act of charity is to give a poor person the means for self-sustenance. Unlike monetary handouts, the benefactor will have a much higher probability of breaking out of the cycle of poverty.

The fact that Israelis strongly support Workfare programs can be partially explained by the extent to which Israelis believe individual ability (education), ambition and hard work are more important than family background and family wealth for getting ahead in life. The survey shows that almost 90% of the respondents think that a good education is essential or very important for economic success. Israelis also strongly believe that personal ambition (88%) and hard work (76%) are needed to advance in life. Interestingly enough, a minority of the respondents (45%) think that family wealth is a strong determinant of one's economic success.

Israelis are naturally hard working and entrepreneurial people, and believe that monetary hand outs do not lead to success and poverty reduction. Only through working, gaining experience, and specialization can individuals sustain themselves and their family, and improve their standard of living.