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Tackling poverty By Haaretz Editorial Tags: credit crunch, poverty  The poverty report for 2007, which was released yesterday, includes somewhat encouraging data that certainly merits a cautious welcome. The good news is that Israeli poverty rates have started to drop. The reduction isn't dramatic - 44,000 fewer poor people than in 2006 - but the poverty rate decreased from 24.5 percent to 23.8 percent, and that is no negligible accomplishment. The bad news is that the global financial crisis is liable to crush even that achievement. The years 2006 and 2007 were good for the economy, and the reduced poverty rate confirms that. It also proves that the sole means for escaping poverty is a combination of reduced welfare supplements and work incentives, which led to a decrease in the poverty rate for single-earner and dual-earner families. It's true this rate didn't go down by much (from 12.4 percent to 12.2 percent), but one can assume that were it not for the global crisis, the downward trend would have continued. The Israeli poverty report has long ago become a way for politicians from various camps to goad others, arousing a kind of involuntary reflex. By now, the reactions are so expected that the memory of the report is erased a few days after its release. Advertisement Advocates of a free-market economy discern in the report the influence economic growth has had even on the poorest. On the other hand stand the no less expected reactions of MKs Shelly Yachimovich (Labor), who argues that poverty stems from employing workers under slave conditions, and Zahava Gal-On (Meretz-Yahad), who called the report "archaeological" and said the financial crisis would create new poor people. The Israeli labor market does need to be fixed, and the crisis is difficult, but it's impossible to ignore the trend of improvement reflected in the report. It appears the Social Affairs Ministry was worried that the cabinet would conclude from the report that its budget should be cut, and therefore rushed to announce that the financial crisis would soon create another 150,000 needy Israelis. Is this the ministry's professional response to the economic difficulties expected ahead? Even the way poverty is measured is controversial. In Israel the poverty line is calculated solely according to income, although many economic and social experts think expenses should also be taken into account. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer agrees, and one can assume that in the coming years the index used to measure poverty will change. In many Western countries, it is accepted practice to estimate a person's poverty based on multiple variables far more complex than those used here. A British cabinet minister in charge of social affairs under Tony Blair put out a document at the end of the 1990s that defined poverty according to 40 detailed variables, including type of housing, education, access to education and health services, ability to stick to a budget and family employment history. Such data analysis is advisable in Israel, too. It could well help turn the annual report from a ritual document into a serious basis for tackling poverty, which would be especially useful during a financial crisis liable to lead to widespread layoffs. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Spy chain Iran: We smashed espionage network linked to Israel. Poultry dilemma Will U.S. Jews have kosher Turkey this Thanksgiving?

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