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Last update - 03:00 14/05/2008 Welfare Min. launches plan for savings accounts for every Israeli kid By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Welfare Ministry  Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog (Labor) and the National Insurance Institute on Tuesday unveiled a plan to open savings accounts for every Israeli child instead of increasing child-benefit payments. Herzog said his proposal could help bring an end to the cycle of poverty. "Our idea is simple - to build basic capital for Israeli children that will be of use to them when they grow up," he said. "This is a thought-process revolution with a view toward the long-term interest and toward taking the next generations out of the cycle of poverty, instead of becoming addicted to immediate solutions, which don't always provide a solution for the problem of continued poverty." Advertisement Shas chairman Eli Yishai slammed the proposal and said he would recommend that his party quit the government if the child benefit payments were not increased to make up for benefit cuts and the erosion of their buying power in the wake of a rise in food prices. Yishai accused Herzog of not understanding the needs of poor families because he didn't come from one. "I, who came from a family in distress, know the meaning of the benefit payments," said Yishai, who heads a ministerial committee on child benefit payments. "Those who come from elsewhere look for solutions appropriate to the children of the capital market and not to hungry children." Finance Minister Roni Bar-On also opposed the plan, but for different reasons. The treasury maintains that the solution to poverty is for both parents to work while the government provides increased child-care services, such as a NIS 5 billion Education Ministry reform and a plan to allot NIS 500 million for additional funds for day care and a program for at-risk children. The Herzog-NII plan, meanwhile, proposes two alternative ways of opening the bank accounts. According to one method, the government would open an account for each child at birth and place the funds in that account, to which the family could also contribute. NIS 50 a month at a 5 percent interest rate would give each child NIS 17,600 by the age of 21. According to the second method, the government would give each infant a grant of NIS 3,500 at a preferred interest rate, yielding NIS 11,000 (at 2008 prices) after 21 years. Herzog and the NII propose to start off by opening bank accounts for some 50,000 poor children a year, at a cost of NIS 180 million. The proposal is based on a similar plan enacted in England. Yishai said the children would not end up using the funds for education or housing, since they will need to us it to undo the medical and societal damage they suffered as a result of the poverty in which they were raised. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Grass is greener For the cannabis-growing residents of Lebanon, recent fighting has been a blessing. Piggy bank savings Welfare Minister Herzog unveils a plan to open savings accounts for every Israeli child.   1.   What about minimum wage for soldiers ??? 03:52  |  Avishai 14/05/08   2.   To be deposited in an account in a bank 04:01  |  Mark Lincoln 14/05/08   3.   Mark Lincoln is right 08:49  |  Sammy 14/05/08   4.   Address the real problem Mr. Herzog 10:22  |  Nuchem 14/05/08   5.   Wont work for all-some families need that money 16:03  |  JO 14/05/08   6.   Eli Yishai and Shas threatening to quit the govermant again 16:12  |  SJ 14/05/08   7.   Piggy banks? Think . 09:14  |  Nora 15/05/08   8.   Thank you Bar-On 11:49  |  Jonathan 15/05/08   9.   Highest Interest Savings Account 16:07  |  Mark Diks 15/05/08   10.   That is actually a very clever idea 18:00  |  SA 15/05/08

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