Feeling Isolated? You're not alone

Aviel Yelinek

Isolation is a psychological state characterized by feeling distant and isolated from others along with a strong desire to connect with other people.  A person’s need for human companionship and social activity are key factors influencing life satisfaction and happiness.

The 2009 Social Survey of the CBS asked respondents if and how often they have felt isolated in the past.  The survey’s results indicate that Jerusalemites feel less isolated than the residents of other major cities in Israel.  Fifty five percent of Jerusalemites reported that they never feel isolated, as compared with 37% of Tel-Aviv’s residents, 50% of Haifa’s residents and 44% of Ashdod’s residents. 

On the flip side, the percentage of respondents who reported feeling isolated often was about the same across these four cities, ranging between seven and ten percent. 

Interestingly enough, feelings of isolation are more common among seniors than young adults.  Nearly 25% of seniors in Israel reported that they feel isolated often compared with only 6% of respondents between the ages of 20 and 39. 

The 2009 Social Survey demonstrates a clear negative link between feelings of isolation and religiosity.  Seventy two percent of Ultra-Orthodox respondents reported never experiencing feelings of isolation compared with 50% of National-Religious individuals and 45% of secular Jews.  The fact that Ultra-Orthodox individuals are less affected by feelings of isolation might be explained by their communal lifestyle and the fact that they tend to have larger families.

The survey results show a clear gender gap, with a higher rate of occurrence among women than among men.  About 10% of women reported that they felt isolated often compared with 7% of men.  Furthermore, only 41% of women reported never to have experienced feelings of isolation compared with 54% of men. 

Ever more youthful

Michal Korach

Jerusalem’s population is particularly youthful. In 2009, the median age in the city was 24 (Half of the city’s population is younger than the median age, and half is older). By way of comparison, Tel-Aviv and Haifa are significantly older, with a median age of 34 and 38, respectively.  The national median age for 2009 was 29.

Jerusalem’s population is so exceptionally youthful because it has a relatively high percentage of children in addition to its having an unusually low percentage of seniors (age 65+).  Almost half (42%) of Jerusalem’s population is of the ages 18 and under and merely 8% are aged 65 and older. 

Of Jerusalem’s non-Ultra-Orthodox, Jewish neighborhoods, the youngest median ages per neighborhood were recorded in Har Homa (21), Givat Mordechai (23) and French Hill (26).  Conversely, the highest neighborhood median ages were recorded in Kiryat Wolfson (68), Nayot, Neve Geranot and Neve Sha’anan (47) and Talbiye (45).  

Among Jerusalem’s Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, the lowest neighborhood median ages were recorded in Kiryat Keminitz in Neve Yaakov (15), Ramat Shlomo (16), Me’a Shearim and Batei Ungerin (16).  The highest neighborhood median ages were found in Kenesset and Batei Broida (31), Sha’arei Hesed (25), Har Nof and Bayit VeGan (20). 

A similar study of Arab neighborhoods could not be performed for lack of available data. 

The graph below shows that non-Ultra-Orthodox localities surrounding Jerusalem had a higher median age than in Jerusalem, while localities surrounding Jerusalem with large Ultra-Orthodox populations had a lower median age than in Jerusalem.

Studious Jerusalemites

Eitan Bluer

The Jerusalem Municipality is investing significant resources in its effort to brand Jerusalem as a national center of higher education and to draw students from every part of the country.  Jerusalem already boasts a large concentration of higher education institutions of every stripe – academic, rabbinic and post-secondary.  Jerusalem’s centrality in the field is evident from the large percentage of students enrolled in its institutions of higher learning; a percentage which greatly exceeds that found in other Israeli cities.  In 2009, 76,000 Jerusalemites over the age of 20 were enrolled in the city’s educational institutions.  As a percentage, this cohort accounted for 17% of its age group in Jerusalem as compared with 11% in Tel-Aviv and in Haifa and a national average of 10%.  Jerusalem also houses many rabbinic academies for men known as yeshivot gedolot.  The presence of these institutions also serves to explain the disproportionate male to female ratio in Jerusalem’s adult higher education: 63% to 37% respectively.  In other major cities, the male to female ratio is almost balanced: 49% to 51% in Tel-Aviv, and 47% to 53% in Haifa and in Israel as a whole.  

Higher education institutions in Jerusalem mostly fall into three categories: institutions that award academic degrees, institutions that award post-secondary certification and rabbinical yeshivot gedolot.  In 2009, 49% of adult students in Jerusalem were studying toward an academic degree.  Their number was 37,000, and 56% of them were female.  Another 25,000 students, which accounted for 33% of Jerusalem’s adult student population, studied in yeshivot gedolot.  They were all male, without exception.      Another 6,000 students, the equivalent of 8% of Jerusalem’s adult student population of which 63% were female, were enrolled in other post-secondary certification programs. 

Of the adult student population, the percentage of students enrolled in academic institutions was lower in Jerusalem than in Israel: 49% compared with 63%.  The proportion of students enrolled in post-secondary certification programs was also relatively low: 8% compared with 13% nationwide. On the other hand, the proportion of students enrolled at rabbinic male seminaries was conspicuously higher with 33% compared with 13%. 

Justly or Wrongly Convicted?

Inbal Doron

Crime rates in Israel have been falling over the past five years; these were the findings of the last annual report of the Israel Police Force.  What about crime rates in Jerusalem?

In 2009, 11,550 residents of Jerusalem were convicted of felonies –  the equivalent of 1.5% of Jerusalem’s population.  Of the convicted, 1,400 were minors under the age of 17 (12%), and another 19% were young adults, between the ages of 17 and 21.

The distribution of felonies showed that 36% were social order offenses, 21% were offenses physical crimes, 19% were property crimes and another 13% were drug related. 

The percentage of males among the criminally convicted is considerably high at 88%.  Crime types which are almost exclusively dominated by males (defined as 95% or more of convicted felons being male) include murder and manslaughter, sexual assault, drug-related crimes and licensing offenses. Of felonies committed by females, an internal distribution study showed that the crimes were mostly concentrated in the areas of offenses against person and against public order: 37% and 32% respectively.

A longitudinal study of the data does not demonstrate any significant trend or change in the number of crimes committed, with the exception of the number of drug offenses committed in the past decade.  In 1999, 315 cases of drug trafficking were opened, and another 710 cases of drug use.  By 2009, the numbers had jumped to 610 cases of drug trafficking (nearly 100% increase) and another 1,120 cases involving drug use (60% increase).