Parenting in Israel
What are some the unique characteristics of parenting in Israel?
High birth rates-
Israel has the highest Birth compared to other OECD countries and compared to 55 different countries worldwide. This isn’t only due to our ultra orthodox community (average of~7 kids per family), but also our secular and traditional communities also have a higher birth rate than the OECD average. Unlike what is the case for other countries, higher education for women, does not cause decrease in birth rate.
In many countries low birth rate is a real crisis. In some countries like Saudi Arabia there has been a decrease in birth rates as the country westernizes. In the last 50 years our average birth rate remains the same.
Why is this the case? A few possible reasons may be- family is an important value in Israeli society, trauma from the holocaust, influence from the ultra orthodox community, “baby boom” as we are in a constant state of war with our surrounding enemies.
Also, Israel has historically focused on promoting Jewish birthrates to retain a Jewish majority. Ben Gurion promoted having four children.
“Don’t talk about your kids with others, they either have their own or they don’t. “ ~Grandma Fannie Z”l
World record of fertility treatments-
In some countries, couples can go broke trying to conceive when medical assistance is needed. Israel provides excellent fertility treatments that are covered almost entirely by national insurance. (2 kids completely free and after that highly subsidized by the health care services)
In fact, Israel is the world capital of in vitro fertilization and holds the world record for treatments funded by state.
Great cheap health care for pregnancy and birth-
Health care services are very fair priced and highly available. Results show in very good maternal and child health. Infant and maternal mortality are lower than the mean within the OECD countries.
Hospitals in Israel compete to have expecting moms choose their hospital to deliver their baby in. The hospitals are paid by the state 13,600 shekels ($3,700) for each birth, compared with 3,300 shekels a day for other hospitalizations. Generally after birth mothers stay at the hospital for 48 hours.
Maternity rights
Maternity rights are not as good as some Scandinavian countries, but not as bad as the u.s :). Mothers get up to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, which can be shared with the father.
While there is free education for all children from 3 years of age to school grade 12, there is very low funding assistance for age 0–3 daycare.
Working mothers get income tax breaks based on the number of children they have.
Balancing work and kids
Most families have two working parents. Israelis also work longer hours than their OECD peers. Also, parents have much less vacation days than their children have in the school systems.
On the other hand, as a child-oriented society, pregnancy and taking child sick days are generally seen as legitimate by employers.
Tight knit with family members-
Israel is a very small country, so you are most likely gonna live pretty close to your parents and siblings. Grandparents picking up their grand-kids from day-care once a week(or more!) is very common.
Kids are seen and heard-
Israel is a very child-oriented society. People take their kids out with them, and most places are used to seeing kids. Kids are seen in supermarkets, restaurants, museums etc.
Families enjoy hiking and camping in nature There are many kid friendly hikes, spring and parks.
lots of advice and comments about your parenting—
As a young parent, Israeli’s generally have a lot of comments about how to raise them/ tips about what you should be doing.
When my daughter was a little over 2, one of her caregivers pointed to my stomach and motioned to me that now’s the time to start working on a sibling for her. At the time I was quite taken aback. But then I realized what is almost always the case with this sort of advice. They actually have your best interest at heart! Later I spoke to her about her own experience of having only one child, marrying later in life. She really wanted what she thought was best for me and what she wasn’t able to have.
