 Hello and welcome back to my YouTube channel. Recently we've been looking at socioeconomic challenges in the state of Israel and learning a bit about the various populations that exist within Jerusalem. One dynamic that's impossible to overlook when talking about Jerusalem however is the high level of poverty in the city. I've often remarked that it's easier to understand Jerusalem as a conurbation of three cities rather than as one cohesive urbanization. The east of the city is mostly Palestinian in character and tends to radically oppose the very idea of Israeli sovereignty. There are neighborhoods within Jerusalem that are dominated by ultra-orthodox Jews and streets. To give an example, streets that are impossible to access by vehicle on Shabbat. And there's a third of the city that's harder to distinguish but stands out for being more moderately religious although even its character is mostly Jewish. Across all these sectors the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research estimates that 47% of Jerusalemites, almost half of them, are living below the poverty line. This plays as a high strain on the municipality to provide social services across the city. With its poverty rate hovering at just under 50%, Jerusalem has repeatedly ranked as the poorest city in Israel. Although Israel has a poverty problem on a national scale, its rank of poverty is among the highest in developed nations, the problem within Israel is most pronounced in Jerusalem. The 2022 yearbook from the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research shows that both Arabs and Jews are affected by the high poverty rate in Jerusalem but that East Jerusalemite Arabs are affected to a greater extent. According to 2020 data, 32% of Jewish residents in Jerusalem lived below the poverty line while 61% of Arabs did. That statistic is of course pretty shocking. The majority of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are living on poverty. Both Arabs and ultra-orthodox Jews are disproportionately affected by poverty in Jerusalem. In fact, the rate of poverty among the ultra-orthodox Jewish community, 45% in Jerusalem, is even higher than the national average for that community which stands at 41%. The reasons for Jerusalem's historically poor poverty record, residents of East Jerusalem complain of discrimination, struggle to speak Hebrew to a sufficient standard to be employed in the west of the city and Israel generally, and also report problems with the recognition of their credentials in Israeli institutions and employers. Workforce participation within the ultra-orthodox Jewish sector remains below levels in the secular population. Many choose to actively forego employment in favor of a life spent learning religious materials supported by charity. Some even reject the legitimacy of the State of Israel and refuse to engage with its social services. The Jerusalem Institute for Policy Studies, or JIPS for short, has formulated a plan for the relief of poverty in Jerusalem which contains specific recommendations for improving the situation. These include supporting grassroots efforts to stamp out poverty by helping Jerusalem's diverse communities to help themselves. This measure includes empowering local leaderships to support their own populations. The establishment of a fund for offering low-interest loan and grants, offering childcare at affordable rates to increase participation in the workforce among new mothers. And of course Jerusalem needs to seriously up its game regarding employment options. Currently, the vast majority of high-paying jobs in the tech sector are located away from the capital in cities like Tel Aviv and Herzliya. While Jerusalem seems to be doubling down on its efforts to build up its tourism sector, the traditional backbone of its economy, the service industry jobs associated with tourism remain commonly lowly paid. My personal opinion, Jerusalem's most promising bets include radically improving transport links with the more economically prosperous Tel Aviv and center of the country. Establishing affordable co-working spaces to support the needs of remote workers who work in Tel Aviv but continue to live in Jerusalem. And establishing a vibrant business district at the western entrance to the city, which is what the Kineseta Eir project currently entails. Thanks for watching, subscribe for more videos about Israel and Jerusalem.