Haredi childcare subsidy cuts paused until November

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman and Economy Minister Orna Barbivay have announced that cuts to childcare subsidies for families in which the father studies full time in yeshiva will be delayed until November 1.

The two ministers said the decision to delay the cuts was made to give such families more time to prepare financially for its impact will have on their household budget.

Liberman has been denounced for making the cuts, which amount to over NIS 1,000 per child, by ultra-Orthodox rabbis and politicians who described the decision as a harsh and cruel attack on ultra-Orthodox families.

Liberman for his part defended the measure, saying it was designed to get ultra-Orthodox men into work and wean them off welfare and a dependence on the ultra-Orthodox parties for their livelihood.

On Wednesday, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, one of the most senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis in the country, lamented the cuts.

“There is an intent to make financial decrees on those involved in Torah,” he said. “Some people don’t understand that the merit of Torah protects us all, all of the Jewish people. They want to do these financial decrees so people can’t study Torah, so they go to work.”

Senior United Torah Judaism MK Ya’acov Litzman dismissed the decision to delay the cuts, saying the measure was “cruel and wicked, the goal of which is to harm and destroy ultra-Orthodox families and those who study Torah.”

Added Litzman “The Reform government of Bennett, Liberman and Lapid is cruel to the ultra-Orthodox and harmful to Jewish tradition.”

Last week, Liberman decided to revoke the eligibility of fathers studying full-time in yeshiva for child-care subsidies.

The subsidies were not conditional on the employment, or lack thereof, of the spouses of such women, meaning that families in which the father was a full-time yeshiva student could also obtain the subsidy.

The subsidies amount to from NIS 900 to NIS 1,200 per child, and in total, around 130,000 families benefit from the subsidies every year, with the Labor and Welfare Ministry spending NIS 1.2 billion on these benefits.

Liberman has argued, however, that the subsidies were originally designed to encourage women, as well as men, to participate in the workforce, not to subsidize full-time yeshiva study by men.

In line with Liberman’s new criteria, fathers will now need to work or study in a non-religious educational institute for at least 24 hours a week, something which would preclude full-time yeshiva study.

At the beginning of 2020, around 53% of ultra-Orthodox men were employed compared to over 85% of non-ultra-Orthodox men.

The subsidies comprise a significant portion of an ultra-Orthodox family’s household income, and canceling them will cause immediate financial problems for such families.