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The reason Israel is ranked so high is actually a major problem for Israel because it indicates the growth of the "wrong demographic" which is dragging the coun
by invalidname 2y ago
The reason Israel is ranked so high is actually a major problem for Israel because it indicates the growth of the "wrong demographic" which is dragging the country down.
Israel is typically a western country and as such has typical western birth rate. However, Hasidic Jews and to a lesser degree the Arab population are both expanding with 10 children per household in many cases. This in itself wouldn't be a problem but due to the closed nature of both society's (especially the Hasidic Jews), we end up with largely ignorant adults who are changing the demographic of the country.
Statistically a non-religious Israeli household contributes a large percentage of its income in terms of taxes. It serves in the Army and has a net positive impact on the economy. Hasidim specifically have the inverse impact. They take more in terms of benefits than they contribute to the economy and, due to their refusal to partake in school standardization, their children would be a major burden on society too. Their destructive impact on politics is even worse.
- rendang 2y agoEverything I've ever seen says that secular Jewish birthrates in Israel are higher than W Europe/US, like https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-birth-rate-remains-highest-in-oecd-by-far-at-2-9-children-per-woman https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-birth-rate-remains-hig...
- invalidname 2y agoYes. But not at a scale that would make such a huge difference.
- elgenie 2y agoIt’s growing into a similar problem as faced by nations with an inverted population pyramid and no immigration: an increasingly smaller share of workers whose productivity supports an increasingly large proportion of the economically idle. But it happens much faster because rather than being economically idle due to having worked and contributed to society for 40-some years like those nations’ retiree seniors, Haredim move smoothly from being children drawing on societal resources to being adults drawing on societal resources with no period of usefulness in the middle. By analogy, they’re the peacock feathers of Israeli society, and how things get resolved with that will get … interesting.