Palestinians in the Israeli Labor Market

Transcription

1 Palestinians in the Israeli Labor Market

2 Middle East Today Series editors: Mohammed Ayoob University Distinguished Professor of International Relations Michigan State University Fawaz A. Gerges Professor and Chair of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations Director of the Middle East Centre London School of Economics The Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the subsequent Gulf Wars, along with the overthrow of the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, have dramatically altered the geopolitical landscape of the contemporary Middle East. This series puts forward a critical body of first-rate scholarship that reflects the current political and social realities of the region, focusing on original research on the Israeli Palestine conflict; social movements, institutions, and the role played by nongovernmental organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, and the Muslim Brotherhood; Iran and Turkey as emerging preeminent powers in the region the former an Islamic republic and the latter a democracy currently governed by a party with Islamic roots; the oil-producing countries in the Persian Gulf and their petrol economies; potential problems of nuclear proliferation in the region; and the challenges confronting the United States, Europe, and the United Nations in the greater Middle East. The focus of the series is on general topics such as social turmoil, war and revolution, occupation, radicalism, democracy, and Islam as a political force in the context of modern Middle East history. Ali Shari ati and the Shaping of Political Islam in Iran Kingshuk Chatterjee Religion and the State in Turkish Universities: The Headscarf Ban Fatma Nevra Seggie Turkish Foreign Policy: Islam, Nationalism, and Globalization Hasan Kösebalaban Nonviolent Resistance in the Second Intifada: Activism and Advocacy Edited by Maia Carter Hallward and Julie M. Norman The Constitutional System of Turkey: 1876 to the Present Ergun Özbudun Islam, the State, and Political Authority: Medieval Issues and Modern Concerns Edited by Asma Afsaruddin Bahrain from the Twentieth Century to the Arab Spring Miriam Joyce Palestinian Activism in Israel: A Bedouin Woman Leader in a Changing Middle East Henriette Dahan-Kalev and Emilie Le Febvre with Amal El Sana-Alh jooj Egypt Awakening in the Early Twentieth Century: Mayy Ziyadah s Intellectual Circles Boutheina Khaldi The Social and Economic Origins of Monarchy in Jordan Tariq Moraiwed Tell Palestinians in the Israeli Labor Market: A Multi-disciplinary Approach Edited by Nabil Khattab and Sami Miaari

3 Palestinians in the Israeli Labor Market A Multi-disciplinary Approach Edited by Nabil Khattab and Sami Miaari

4 PALESTINIANS IN THE ISRAELI LABOR MARKET Copyright Nabil Khattab and Sami Miaari Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the World, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Integra Software Services First edition: August ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI /

5 To our parents

6 This page intentionally left blank

7 Contents List of Figures List of Tables Foreword Acknowledgments ix xi xv xvii Introduction 1 Sami Miaari and Nabil Khattab Part I The Persistence of Ethnic Penalties 1 On the Reserve Bench: Palestinian Employees in Israel 11 Nabil Khattab and Sami Miaari 2 Combating Discrimination against Arab Palestinians in the Israeli Workplace: The Current Enforcement Failure and the Role of the Newly Established EEOC 37 Talya Steiner 3 The Persistent Wage Gaps between Palestinians and Jews in Israel, Sami Miaari and Nabil Khattab Part II The Changing Nature of Female Employment and Its Consequences 4 Ethnicity, Gender, and Exclusion: Which Occupations Are Open to Israeli Palestinian Women? 87 Yuval Yonay and Vered Kraus 5 Changing Earnings Composition in Israeli-Palestinian Households: The Emergence of the Dual-Earner Family 111 Haya Stier 6 Israeli-Palestinian Women in the Retail Industry: Social Boundaries and Job Search Techniques 131 Erez A. Marantz, Alexandra Kalev, and Noah Lewin-Epstein

8 viii CONTENTS 7 The Welfare State as an Employer: An Unacknowledged Avenue of Opportunity for Palestinian Women in Israel 153 Michael Shalev and Amit Lazarus Part III Segregation Matters 8 Barriers to Developing Employment Zones in the Arab Palestinian Localities in Israel and Their Implications 185 Rassem Khamaisi 9 Factors and Obstacles Impeding Economic Development within Palestinian Localities in Israel: The Case of the Food Industry 213 Khaled Abu Asbah and Muhammed Abu Nasra 10 Social and Spatial Examination of Palestinian Employment in Israel in Single Municipalities 241 Ilan Shdema List of Contributors 263 Index 267

9 List of Figures 1.1 Participation rates in the labor force among Jews and Arabs, Unemployment Rates among Jews and Palestinians, Real hourly wage gap in Israel between Jews and Palestinians, Number of non-israeli workers in the Israeli labor market, Real hourly wage gaps between Jews and Palestinians by percentiles, Earner composition of Palestinian and Jewish couple-headed families, Rate of male-provider and dual-earner families among Muslims, Druze, and Christians, Results of simulation Labor force participation rates of Jewish and Palestinian women in Israel ( ) Palestinian women labor force participation by economic sectors ( ) Number of employees by broad economic branch and percentage in SSLF Percentage of women employed in the SSLF by origin group Trends in higher education (HE) and labor force participation (LFPR) of the educated Probabilities of being employed in the social services by origin and year 165

10 x LIST OF FIGURES 7.5 Women s adjusted hourly wages by sector and origin, Net wage gap (in percentage) between SSLF and other branches, by gender and year Women s net hourly earnings, percentage gaps from Arabs by sector and year Employment and local industrial zones work together to enhance economic development Opportunities for planning and development of employment zones and their relation to the components of planning, management, and land planning and allocation Dialectical relation between the four components that hinder the development of employment centers in Palestinian localities Percentage of the work force commuting (2008) in the greater Palestinian localities (more than 10,000, 2011), according to population size and locality on the central peripheral state map division Distribution of Diversified Palestinian and Mixed Localities in Israel Distribution of 2008 Workforce Participation Rates in Understudied Municipalities The weight of workforce participation rates and monthly income (mean) by municipality (based on CBS s 2008) profiles Distribution of Employment Rates within Arab and Mixed Municipalities Boundaries (in %) 253

11 List of Tables 1.1 Probabilities of transition between labor market states, Palestinians, Probabilities of transition between labor market states, Jews, Probabilities of transition between labor market states: Men and women aged with up to secondary education, Probabilities of transition between labor market states, men and women aged with at least a postsecondary qualification, Average number of quarters for re-entry to employment among nonemployed before the determinant week during a growth period Average number of quarters for ejection from employment among employed before the determinant week during recession Summary statistics of the variables by ethnicity, a Real hourly wage gaps between Jews and Palestinians by occupation, b Real hourly wage gaps between Jews and Palestinians by education, Estimation of wage gaps between Palestinians and Jews, adjusted and unadjusted, Results of regression coefficients of the wage equation, Comparison of OLS and QR results for all workers 76

12 xii LIST OF TABLES 3.6 Comparison of OLS and QR results, skilled and unskilled workers Labor force participation of Israelis, aged 25 52, with tertiary education by gender, ethnicity, and year Percent of self-employed men, aged 25 52, with tertiary education, by ethnicity and year Occupational enrollment of workers (in percent), aged with tertiary education, by gender and ethnic group, Logistic regression predicting occupational affiliation of highly educated workers, aged 25 52, by ethnicity and gender in Changes in the number of children, education, labor force participation, and work hours among Palestinian married couples ages 18 65, Changes in the number of children, education, labor force participation, and work hours by religion and period Percentage of dual earners by women s education and number of children Estimated parameters of logistic regression predicting family type Interviewees personal characteristics Job searching and hiring methods used in retail industry (in %) Arab and Jewish women s employment characteristics, OLS regressions on the natural log of hourly wages, 2002 and Determinants of hourly wages in different groups and sectors ; effects in percent Areas planned, developed, and managed with support of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labour for industrial regions,

13 LIST OF TABLES xiii 8.2 Built-up areas that pay taxes to local authorities in 13 Palestinian localities and the percentage of area allocated for industrial and economic activities and projected revenues, Built-up areas that pay taxes to local authorities in 13 Jewish towns and the percentages of areas allocated for industrial and economic activities and projected revenues, Summary of research variables and methodology Quintiles of workforce participation in municipalities Mean workforce participation percentages by spatial and social municipalities characteristics Municipalities workforce participation rates over the period Percentages of employment within Arab and mixed municipalities Characteristics of localities and percentage of employment within/outside the municipality Quintiles of Arab women workforce participation percentages in Arab and mixed municipalities 254

14 This page intentionally left blank

15 Foreword The most meaningful ethnic split in Israeli society is between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority population. Palestinians, citizens of the state of Israel, compose approximately 20 percent of the population of the state and should be viewed as an indigenous population that has been living in the region for generations. The social and political status of the Palestinian minority in Israeli society changed dramatically in 1948 after the establishment of the State of Israel. Prior to the establishment of the state, Palestinians constituted the majority of the population. Jewish immigration and the war of independence changed the social and political status of the Palestinian population of Israel. From a numerical majority, Palestinians had become a subordinate ethnic minority in every aspect of stratification including formal education, occupational status, earnings, wealth, standard of living, and political power. Although they are citizens of the country and can participate in the political system, years of segregation and discrimination have placed them at the bottom of the Israeli system of ethnic stratification. Currently, more than six decades after the establishment of the State of Israel, socioeconomic disparities between Jews and Palestinians have not vanished; Palestinians in Israel still experience difficulties in achieving success in the Israeli labor market. The book Palestinians in the Israeli Labor Market: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach focuses on the socioeconomic status of the Palestinian population of Israel. It constitutes an important contribution not only to the study of economic inequality in Israeli society but also to the literature on economic inequality in labor markets of other multi-ethnic societies. The chapters included in the book underscore the multiple sources for the persisting socioeconomic disparities between Palestinians and Jews and discuss changes that the Palestinian population of Israel had undergone in recent decades. The book also highlights the need for an interdisciplinary approach and for multiple perspectives (i.e., sociological, demographic, economic, and legal) to fully understand the complexities associated with the change and persistence in patterns of socioeconomic inequalities. Most important, the chapters build on previous research on the issue in order to delineate changes that the Palestinian population of Israel has experienced

16 xvi FOREWORD during the past decades and provide explanations for the question why socioeconomic disadvantages of Palestinians in the Israeli labor market have lasted more than six decades after the establishment of the state. The chapters of the book deal with sources of labor market inequality in terms of employment and unemployment, occupational concentration, segregation, exclusion, and wages. They provide information on trends and change in patterns of inequality and economic activity of households and especially on increased participation of Palestinian women in labor market activity and the lasting socioeconomic disparities. The chapters also underscore the role of residential segregation in producing labor market inequalities between Jews and Palestinians. Both populations are highly segregated both socially and residentially. Subsequently, Palestinians and Jews are exposed to differential structure of opportunities. Spatial segregation of the Palestinian population has produced, in turn, both economic disadvantages and dependence on governmental agencies. Indeed, the findings presented in this book should be used not only by students of ethnic inequality but also by policy makers who wish to combat discrimination and inequality. Moshe Semyonov Bernard and Audre Rapoport Professor of the Sociology of Labor, Tel Aviv University

17 Acknowledgments Some of the chapters in this book (chapters 1 3 and 7) are a result of three projects that were hosted and funded by the Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI). We are grateful to the IDI for their support and for hosting the one-day seminar on the integration of Israel s Palestinian citizens in the labor market, which resulted in this book. In particular, we wish to thank Mordechai Kremnitzer, vice president of research at IDI, for his support and encouragement before and during the preparation of this volume. We owe special gratitude to Guy Stecklov, head of the Shain Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for providing financial support during the preparations of this volume and for Allison Lach for preparing the index. We would also like to thank the authors of this volume for their time, effort, and commitment. Without their cooperation, this interesting book would not have been completed. Finally, we wish to thank a number of reviewers who have read and commented on different chapters of the book. These reviewers cannot be named here, but their contribution is highly appreciated.