Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Erela Ganan

The Central Bureau of Statistics Social Survey for 2016 posed the following question to its respondents: "Are there situations in which you feel lonely?" While working on this weekly column I came across that question, and I wondered – would I have answered that question honestly? And on a government survey? Which of the four options (often, sometimes - from time to time, infrequently, never) would I have chosen? I'm still not sure, but in the meantime, this is what the existing data reveals…

Men in Tel Aviv are lonelier than men in Jerusalem; women in Jerusalem are lonelier than women in Tel Aviv

6.7% of the men in Tel Aviv often feel lonely, as opposed to 3.7% of the men in Jerusalem.

6.66% of the women in Jerusalem often feel lonely, as opposed to 5.94% of the women in Tel Aviv.

When you cluster the answers, the loneliness gaps by gender and by city blur – about 21% of the men in Jerusalem are often or occasionally lonely, similar to about 23% of the men in Tel Aviv. However, we learn that in general women feel lonelier than men do. About 80,000 women in Jerusalem (31%) and about 44,000 women in Tel Aviv (26%) feel lonely often or occasionally. The situation in Haifa isn't much happier: 20,500 of the men in Haifa (21%) feel lonely often or occasionally, as opposed to about 30,000 women in Haifa (27%).

To what is the sense of loneliness connected, among Jerusalemites?

I assumed that there would be a correspondence between the level of loneliness and the quality of family relationships. The Central Bureau of Statistics looks into this as well, and asks: Are you satisfied with your relationship with your relatives? There were insufficient respondents to the options that express dissatisfaction or complete dissatisfaction and so the sampling error doesn't allow for the presentation of the data, which means that I can't reinforce or rule out my assumption. Still, the 21% of the women in Jerusalem who report a frequent feeling of loneliness is comprised of 6.3% who are "very satisfied" with their family relationships, and 14% who are only "satisfied." Among the 31% of women in Jerusalem who feel lonely now and again, 8% are "very satisfied" and connected to their families, while 20% are only "satisfied."

And what of the family status of the respondents?

There is insufficient family status data about those who reported feeling a sense of loneliness "often." At the same time, from among the approximately 17% of Jerusalemites who are lonely "occasionally," about 12% are married, and about 5% are single. And among the approximately 24.4% of women in Jerusalem who are occasionally lonely, about 15% are married and about 5.4% are single.

And maybe, after all that, we can sum up and conclude that a sense of loneliness is part and parcel of feelings of human existence, and it's just as natural to feel loneliness as any other feeling. However, if you still feel overwhelmed, don't keep it to yourself – it's probably a good idea to seek help, or company...

Translated by Gilah Kahn

Stillbirths

Erela Ganan

Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, www.jiis.org

In 2011 there were 166,296 live births in Israel, and the overall fertility rate – that is, the average number of children per woman – stood at 3.0. Jerusalem had 26,577 live births, with a fertility rate of 3.94, resulting mainly from the high birthrates in the Arab and ultra-orthodox sectors.

When speaking of childbirth, there is a tendency to avoid mentioning the tragedy of stillbirth. The Ministry of Health has published guidelines to help parents in these situations. The distinction between a miscarriage and stillbirth is based on one of two criteria: a weight of at least 500 grams at the time of the dead infant’s birth, or a birth that takes place during or after the 22nd week of pregnancy, when the weight is unknown. Such cases are statistically rare in Israel: of 167,188 births in Israel in 2011, “only” 892 were stillborn, that is, 0.53%, or in other words – 5.3 stillbirths for every 1,000 births. In the Jerusalem District 139 infants were stillborn, comprising 0.52%, that is, a rate of 5.2 per 1,000, while in Jerusalem itself the rate of stillbirths is 5.1 per 1,000, with 117 deaths. In Tel Aviv the rate is 5.5, whereas in Ashdod and Haifa the rates are 6.1 and 6.9, respectively. 

What about termination of pregnancy? A deliberate termination (abortion) may legally be performed in Israel only with the authorization of an abortion committee. In 2011 there were 10.3 such requests per 1,000 women (calculated for women of childbearing age, that is, 15-49). The Jerusalem District and city of Jerusalem had the lowest rates of requests in Israel (5.7 requests at the district level, and only 4.8 at the city level). Requests for termination of pregnancy are granted in various situations, such as when the pregnant woman is below marriageable age (17 years), when the woman is not married, or when the pregnancy is out of wedlock. Married women who face unwanted pregnancies, however, are trapped by the law. In 2012, 43.7% of the women who submitted requests to abortion committees were married, with the request in most cases taking place during the second month of pregnancy (when the average age of the fetus was 8.2 weeks). At the same time, abortion committees tend to approve the requests they receive: in 2012, 98.8% of requests were granted. It also turns out that there is a gap between the number of abortions authorized and the number of abortions that actually take place. (In 2010, out of a total of 21,363 requests, 20,809 were authorized and 19,531 were carried out.)

Sources: CBS, Ministry of Health

Sha-Bus Rider

Erela Ganan

Lately, we have witnessed growing civic activity aimed at expanding the operating time of public transportation to include service on Shabbat. But will there be significant demand for a Shabbat bus? 

To find out, we can first look at the number of people using public transport on weekdays. In its last census (conducted in 2008), the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) found that 41% of the workers in the country commuted to work using alternative modes of transportation, rather than their own private car: 1,115,900 people traveled to work via bus, train, shuttle, taxi, bike, or simply walked. In Jerusalem, the rate is even higher, at 50%. In addition, public transport is used by thousands of school children, soldiers, students, elderly people and others, but data on these groups' rate of use are missing. 

Second, we want to find out the public's position on travel during Shabbat. In the CBS' social survey of 2009, which focused on religion, 53% of the Jewish respondents aged 20 and over stated they support activation of public transport on Shabbat. It is important to note that non-Jewish people, who are not likely to object to Shabbat buses, comprise 25% of Israel's residents, and 38% of Jerusalem's population.

Jewish respondents who stated they were traditional or secular were asked if they ride on Shabbat (observant Jews were assumed to avoid it). Eighty-seven percent of the traditional-loosely observant answered that they do not (or scarcely do) avoid traveling on Shabbat, and surprisingly, as many as 42% of the traditional-observant also stated they do not (or scarcely do) avoid it. Altogether, 84% of these populations stated they do not stay away from traveling on Shabbat, which means that 45% of the Jewish public aged 20 and over in Israel, or 2.5 million people, do not avoid it. This, along with the fact that 41% of the workers use alternative transit to commute to work (as stated above), leads us to assume that approximately 18% of the people in these groups are potential clients for public transportation, should it run on the 61 days every year that it ceases to function – weekends and Jewish holidays (not including Yom Kippur). This population sums up to over a million persons. In the meantime, those who are Jerusalemites can use the East Jerusalem transportation system, active seven days a week.

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics