We sat on these facts and figures from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics we were going to publish in honor of the official International Women’s Day, but then the country filled up with armed Arab men and women looking to kill and maim Jews and we—and probably you, too, became distracted. So here they are, without further ado, a bunch of random facts and figures you should know about Israeli women.
HOW MANY?
By the end of 2014 Israel had 3,042,900 women ages 15 and up.
MARRIAGE
52,705 women got married in 2013. The average age of women who became married for the first time was 25.1, compared with 24.5 back in 2004. About 9% of women ages 15 and up live alone. The rate of women ages 65 and up who live alone is three times greater than men’s — 32% compared with only 12% respectively.
MOTHERHOOD
The average age of women having their first baby has gone up from 26.5 in 2004 to 27.5 in 2014.
LONGEVITY
Women live longer than men in Israel. The average woman lives to age 84.1, men only 80.3 — but while men’s longevity has stayed the same in 2014 as in 2013, women’s lives were extended by 0.2 years.
WORK
67.6% of employed women worked full time (35 or more weekly hours), and 32.4% worked part time (less than 35 weekly hours). The rate of married mothers who were employed reached 75% on average — 77.5% of women with one child, 78.9% with two children, but only 62.5% with four children (can you blame them?).
Only 32% of all employees in managerial positions were women.
In 2014 the average annual income for a female employee was $22,879.80. The average male employee earned $34,171.56 annually. It means the average female employee in Israel earns roughly 67% of what male employees do.
Female business owners made on average $21,063.12 — that’s 8% less than their employed sisters. But male business owners earned on average $38,327.88 annually, or 10.8% better than their employed brothers.
Yet, despite the obvious gaps in income, it turns out 90% of employed women are satisfied with their work — compared with 85% of their male colleagues. A full 41% are “very satisfied.”
EDUCATION
Israel has more female high school graduates than male. In Israel at the end of their first 12 years of school, students are required to pass the Matriculation Exams, which determine to a large extent their acceptance into university programs. In 2014 68% of girls passed their matriculations, compared with 55% of boys.
In the school year 2014/15 there were 3,118,000 students altogether in Israel, out of whom 1,810,000 or 58.1% were female. Back in 1969/70 women comprised less than half the students — only 43.3%.
The most common areas of post high school study for women is in the paramedical professions (82.7%), and education and teaching (80.6%).
ACCIDENTS
In 2014 55% of Israeli pedestrians hurt in accidents and 56% of passengers in cars involved in accidents were women. But women were far less likely to be hurt as motorcycle riders (6% of accidents), bicycle riders (10%), or car drivers (35%).
