Israel, a small country wedged between Africa and Asia, is one that has faced many challenges. The country was created as a Jewish state in 1948, but ever since, it has worked towards developing a strong and stable economy. With this economy, Israel is a country that isn’t the cheapest to live in. Despite the high price tags for things such as housing, transportation and groceries, Israel has easy access and relatively low costs for things such as healthcare and education. Here is a brief rundown on the cost of living in Israel:
What’s Expensive?
The cost of living in Israel can be high, especially in a nice area. For the Israelis, that means living in the center of the country, Jerusalem, which comes at a high price. In order to purchase a two-bedroom apartment in Jerusalem, one must pay a little less than half a million dollars. Additionally, the down payment required in Israel is normally 40 percent. Due to this high price tag, many people in the country find it difficult to afford their ideal home.
After securing the perfect home, Israelis are faced with the challenge of transportation. While the country does have public transit, it is known for being unreliable. The next option is purchasing a car, but this is unrealistic for many people who are living on a budget. The price of cars in Israel are drastically more expensive than other places in the world. For example, in order to buy a Volkswagen Golf, one must be able to pay about $38,000 plus about $7 per gallon of gas. In contrast, the same car would cost about $20,000 in the U.S.
The cost of living in Israel continues to be a challenge when faced with the everyday task of going to the grocery store. Monthly expenses for food and other grocery items cost the average person about $540 in Israel. In comparison, Europeans pay about $427 a month for their groceries. While this amount is a lot in itself, what makes it even more challenging is the low monthly income for most people. The average salary for an Israeli is less than $3,000 per month, making it hard to afford the steep costs of other necessities within the country.
What’s Cheap?
While many commodities within the country come with a hefty cost, the people of Israel are fortunate to have some basic things such as healthcare and education that come at a reasonable price. Israel’s healthcare system is praised by many around the world. The people of Israel have approximately 3-6 percent of their paycheck removed for healthcare, allowing for most of their medical needs to be covered by taxes. Additionally, all citizens receive the same healthcare for the same price, with extra costs for things such as going to the emergency room, remaining low.
Another positive toward the cost of living in Israel is the low expense for education. Parents who send their children to public school only end up paying a couple hundred dollars a year and those who send their kids to private schools, less than a couple thousand. When students then go to college, the annual cost of tuition is less than $3,000, making education accessible to many people throughout the country.
While the cost of living in Israel isn’t cheap all together, the country strives towards making things that are the most vital to their people affordable. When it comes to things such as living in the best part of the city or being able to purchase your own car, many people in Israel find the price to be too high. That being said, the price tag on healthcare and education is made easy for anyone, even those who struggle with finances.
– Olivia Hayes
Photo: Flickr
Corruption: A Consequence of the High Poverty Rate in Liberia
The World Bank’s most recent information on the poverty rate in Liberia, collected in 2007, indicates that around 63 percent of the country lives on less than $1.90 per day (the daily income rate considered the threshold for extreme poverty). Also, as of 2009 the World Bank reported that a colossal 89.6 percent of the population lives on less than $3.10 a day.
These statistics show that a significant majority of Liberia suffers from the absolute worst poverty possible, and nearly everyone in the country struggles from slightly less severe yet punishing conditions of scarcity and desperation.
Unsurprisingly, the alarming poverty rate in Liberia stymies the country’s overall development. The country lacks the infrastructure to reliably provide water and electricity, and sorely lacks the resources or opportunities for widespread education or employment. Overall, these deficiencies stifle the creation of new institutions as well as human and economic development, contributing to other problems such as corruption and instability.
Like many other poverty-stricken countries in Africa, Liberia also contends with frequent political instability and violence. Following a military coup d’etat in 1980, the government of Liberia has been plagued by corruption, irresponsibility and political persecution. Two civil wars in Liberia claimed the lives of 250,000 people between 1989 and 2003.
The country’s political instability may seem surprising considering that Liberia was founded by freed American and Caribbean slaves and has a democratic system of government modeled after the U.S. Unfortunately, the relationship between poverty and corruption creates a seemingly endless cycle that prevents the Liberian government from functioning effectively when the deprived people need it most.
Fortunately, Liberia’s current president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, seems determined to rid the government of corruption and truly help the country. With a long history of opposing unethical behavior and experience working for the World Bank and U.N. President Sirleaf is particularly well qualified to pull Liberia out of hopelessness.
President Sirleaf possesses the strong negotiation skills and political and financial knowledge to tackle the alarming poverty rate in Liberia as well as the corruption it feeds. If President Sirleaf succeeds in revamping Liberia’s economy and rooting out government-level corruption, Liberia may one day live up to the principles of liberty and opportunity that its founders originally sought.
– Isidro Rafael Santa Maria
Photo: Flickr
The Most Common Diseases in France
Most Common Diseases in France: Contraction and Vaccination
If one is traveling, Hepatitis A outbreaks occur throughout the world, and it is still possible to contract this disease through contaminated food or water in France. Hepatitis B can be contracted through sexual contact, contaminated needles and blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rabies is also a present disease in France if traveling, however, it is not a major risk factor unless the travel includes various actives in remote areas that could put one at risk of being bitten.
For these diseases, the CDC recommends staying up to date on routine vaccines before every trip. Among the vaccines include measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, the chickenpox vaccine, a polio vaccine and a yearly flu shot.
If residing permanently in France, one may have noticed vaccines have been a heated topic in the country. While addressing Parliament recently, Édouard Phillipe, the prime minister under the new president, Emmanuel Macron, stated that starting in 2018 parents will be required to vaccinate their children for 11 different diseases. A major trigger that led to this decision was when a measles outbreak occurred earlier this year and the nation was hit badly.
Three vaccines are currently compulsory: diphtheria, tetanus, and poliomyelitis. In 2018 this list will become more extensive, including other common diseases in France such as polio, measles, mumps, pertussis, rubella, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenza bacteria, pneumococcus, and meningococcus C.
Ironically, in a study involving 65,819 people across 67 countries last year, France was the most hesitant when it came to trusting vaccinations. Forty-one percent of individuals surveyed in the country disagreed with the statement “vaccines are safe” when compared to the average of 13 percent globally.
In the face of changing attitudes toward common diseases in France, government policy may take time to shift perceptions and alleviate the prevalence of these diseases and ensure prosperity for all.
– Sara Venusti
Photo: Google
Austerity Among Causes of Poverty in Greece
Since the 2008 financial crisis, several countries including Greece, Ireland, Cyprus and Portugal have relied on the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for bailouts. All are rebounding except for Greece, which is now on its third bailout and has yet to see a decrease in its 14 percent poverty rate.
Many Greeks say the bailouts are not enough. With the highest unemployment rate in the EU at 23 percent and youth unemployment at nearly 48 percent, many Greeks believe that the causes of poverty in Greece include the bailouts themselves.
The EU and IMF have been cautious issuing the Mediterranean nation new bailouts, requiring the Greek government to enact several austerity measures. These measures have ranged from increasing taxes and cutting pensions to scaling back all government spending.
Austerity and Poverty in Greece
Many believe that these austerity measures are the causes of poverty in Greece. Increased taxes and pension cuts leave citizens with less disposable income, and in Greece’s case, nearly no disposable income. Being a largely service-oriented economy, consumer spending is the most important economic driver.
As spending falls, businesses tighten the belt and hire fewer or lay off workers. The first to suffer are young and inexperienced Greeks. Due to the inability of the Greece’s youth to find employment, many families subsist on parents’ or grandparents’ pensions, which are to be cut this year as part of the new round of austerity measures.
Many young Greeks have left the nest to head to the cities, where incomes are higher, and poverty is less prevalent. Greece’s rural population has experienced a contraction as a result, and food assistance lines in the city have grown.
There is some good news on Greece’s horizon. As part of a program to incorporate Syrian refugees into mainstream Greek society, the EU is planning on giving Greece 209 million euros. The money will help refugees with rent and living expenses and the new cash infusion could help move the economy forward, only time will tell.
The Greek government has also decided to issue bonds on the market. Finding a buyer for Greece’s risky debt will prove challenging, but if done, will prove to the EU that the economy is turning a corner.
The causes of poverty in Greece are many and systemic. After the global financial crisis of 2008 and the following austerity measures, Greece has had it rough in the last decade, but many can see a light at the end of the tunnel.
– Thomas Anania
Photo: Flickr
Environmental Factors Affect Common Diseases in Panama
Panama’s poverty levels are high. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America, nearly 29 percent of the population lives in poverty, and about 12 percent are extremely poor. In such conditions, many cannot afford to protect themselves from commonly cured diseases.
Common diseases in Panama, such as cholera and Hepatitis A, are food-borne illnesses. These can be passed through the handling of food through fecal matter. Poor sanitation from food handlers leads to the passing of the infection to the recipient. Cholera can be cured with antibiotics, and the World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend a vaccine. Hepatitis A, however, has no cure, but fortunately, there is a vaccine.
A very common disease in Panama, also passed through contaminated water, is giardiasis. This illness is an infection in the intestine, which originates from a parasite. Giardiasis infects 25 percent of food handlers in Panama City.
As with many countries in Latin America, common diseases in Panama include a prevalence of vector-borne illness. Malaria, Dengue fever and Yellow fever are all diseases caused by environmental forces. Malaria is commonly found in tropical areas. This illness is transferred by the bite of a mosquito, and can lead to organ failure, among many other complications.
Another common disease in Panama is Leishmaniasis. This disease occurs in less-populated areas, usually in areas where there are forests. This disease has three different types: cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral. The first two types are defined by their ulcer type, the third is the most severe form. Visceral leishmaniasis causes high fever, weight loss, spleen and liver swelling and skin darkening. Untreated visceral leishmaniasis patients have about an 85 percent mortality rate.
Although, many of these diseases come from the natural environment of the country, resources and aid given to a country with a high infection rate and high poverty rate help tremendously. The U.S. does not give extensive financial aid to Panama, however, has provided assistance in regards to developmental assistance and health, but mostly only to assist with HIV/AIDS.
– Nate Harris
Photo: Flickr
The Cost of Living in Israel
What’s Expensive?
The cost of living in Israel can be high, especially in a nice area. For the Israelis, that means living in the center of the country, Jerusalem, which comes at a high price. In order to purchase a two-bedroom apartment in Jerusalem, one must pay a little less than half a million dollars. Additionally, the down payment required in Israel is normally 40 percent. Due to this high price tag, many people in the country find it difficult to afford their ideal home.
After securing the perfect home, Israelis are faced with the challenge of transportation. While the country does have public transit, it is known for being unreliable. The next option is purchasing a car, but this is unrealistic for many people who are living on a budget. The price of cars in Israel are drastically more expensive than other places in the world. For example, in order to buy a Volkswagen Golf, one must be able to pay about $38,000 plus about $7 per gallon of gas. In contrast, the same car would cost about $20,000 in the U.S.
The cost of living in Israel continues to be a challenge when faced with the everyday task of going to the grocery store. Monthly expenses for food and other grocery items cost the average person about $540 in Israel. In comparison, Europeans pay about $427 a month for their groceries. While this amount is a lot in itself, what makes it even more challenging is the low monthly income for most people. The average salary for an Israeli is less than $3,000 per month, making it hard to afford the steep costs of other necessities within the country.
What’s Cheap?
While many commodities within the country come with a hefty cost, the people of Israel are fortunate to have some basic things such as healthcare and education that come at a reasonable price. Israel’s healthcare system is praised by many around the world. The people of Israel have approximately 3-6 percent of their paycheck removed for healthcare, allowing for most of their medical needs to be covered by taxes. Additionally, all citizens receive the same healthcare for the same price, with extra costs for things such as going to the emergency room, remaining low.
Another positive toward the cost of living in Israel is the low expense for education. Parents who send their children to public school only end up paying a couple hundred dollars a year and those who send their kids to private schools, less than a couple thousand. When students then go to college, the annual cost of tuition is less than $3,000, making education accessible to many people throughout the country.
While the cost of living in Israel isn’t cheap all together, the country strives towards making things that are the most vital to their people affordable. When it comes to things such as living in the best part of the city or being able to purchase your own car, many people in Israel find the price to be too high. That being said, the price tag on healthcare and education is made easy for anyone, even those who struggle with finances.
– Olivia Hayes
Photo: Flickr
How to Help People in North Korea
North Korea’s government spends more than 20 percent of its GDP on defense while more than half of its population lives in extreme poverty. As a result, one-third of children have stunted growth and thousands, if not millions, die of preventable starvation.
North Korea represses its citizens by censoring and restricting any information from outside the closed-off country. State propaganda leads North Koreans to believe the rest of the world is threatening and inferior. For crimes against the regime — real or perceived — an estimated 200,000 people work in abusive prison camps where torture and rape abound.
The vast amount of suffering in North Korea seems daunting, but there is hope. Here is how to help people in North Korea:
The North Korean government brainwashes residents to think it is doing a wonderful job protecting it from the outside world, despite struggling to feed, house and employ its people. It is possible to help free North Koreans from this manipulation by sending old flash drives to Flash Drives for Freedom. The nonprofit will erase what is on them and fill them with films, internet content and books. It works with South Korean partners to smuggle the drives into North Korea.According to Wired, these glimpses of outside information have the power to change North Koreans’ view of the U.S. and other nations the dictatorship has labeled as evil. Recognizing the regime’s lies can empower citizens to question the legitimacy of the regime and encourage others to do the same.
Multiple agencies worked for years to relieve suffering in North Korea. One of them, the Defense Forum Foundation, began working for human rights in the country in 1996. The Defense Forum Foundation helped establish Free North Korea Radio, a radio program broadcast into North Korea with messages from defectors. The organization also rescued hundreds of North Korean refugees and created annual events to spread awareness and encourage people to act.Another organization, Liberty in North Korea, rescued more than 600 refugees by providing safe passage over thousands of miles of China and Southeast Asia. According to its website, $3,000 is all it takes to rescue and resettle one refugee.The North Korea Freedom Coalition could also use donor support. It coordinates with its many partners to get food aid to North Koreans, pressure the government to release abductees and more. It helped establish North Korea Freedom Day in 2004, which garnered public and political support for the North Korea Human Rights Act, signed into law that year.
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives each has a bill reauthorizing and strengthening the North Korean Human Rights Act. Passage of these bills would ensure the U.S. continues working to help people in North Korea — both those who stay and those who flee the country.The Senate bill, for example, wants the U.S. government to expand private broadcasting inside North Korea to disseminate news and information contradictory to what citizens hear from propagandizing, state-controlled broadcasts.Another facet of both bills calls for the United States to urge China to stop returning North Korean defectors where they and their families face several forms of persecution, like sexual abuse and forced labor. They also mention that the United States should cooperate with countries that border North Korea to develop long-term plans of “humanitarian assistance and human rights promotion and to effectively assimilate North Korean defectors.”Also included in the bills is a section for the continuation of supporting North Korean refugees with resettlement in the United States, if that is their choice. Only around 200 North Koreans resettled in the United States. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 North Koreans have defected since 1953. Several thousand live in China in fear of deportation.
Many people call North Korea the most miserable and repressed society in the world. But there are ways to help people in North Korea.
– Kristen Reesor
Photo: Flickr
Disparities in Water Quality in Gabon
Eighty-seven percent of Gabon’s 1.8 million people live in urban areas, such as Libreville and Port-Gentil. As the urban population increases, so does the demand for a fixed water supply. Gabon’s low capacity for drinking water production and lack of storage and maintenance facilities leads to frequent water shortages in Libreville and other urban areas.
Water quality in Gabon is different in urban and rural areas. In 2015, 92 percent of urban areas and 59 percent of rural areas had access to improved water resources. ‘Improved’ drinking sources include piped water on property and other improved sources of drinking water, according to the World Health Organization.
Despite its status as an upper middle-income country, 34 percent of the population lives in poverty. Rural, poverty stricken areas suffer deprivation from drinking water resources in Gabon, and 58 percent of the population does not have access to improved sanitation facilities. In 2015, sanitation rates in urban and rural areas were 43 and 32 percent, respectively.
Access to sanitation facilities is very low in Gabon. Inadequate wastewater and rainwater networks and deficient solid waste management explain the disparity.
Inadequate sewage and waste management led to negative health outcomes. Insufficient sanitation and lack of access to improved water sources are associated with the increased risk of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a class of infectious bacterial and parasitic diseases. In Gabon, a large proportion of the population is at risk of infection from soil-transmitted helminthiasis, lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis.
The infrastructure for drinking water and sanitation were identified as priority areas for reform in the Gabonese government’s 2016–2020 Country Strategy Paper. Long-term success for water and waste management requires understanding how wealth distribution and social gradients affect water quality in Gabon. The CSP addresses social and infrastructural issues and broadened the scope of the development plan. It plans to build a sustainable water and sanitation infrastructure.
– Gabrielle Doran
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Suriname Refugees
Suriname has come a long way since the thousands of refugees seeking shelter elsewhere as the civil war continued. These 10 facts about Suriname refugees show that the country has reduced reason to house stateless persons, and that positive developments and achievements in refugee situations has strengthened its people.
– Olivia Cyr
Photo: Pixabay
Bleach Bottle Lights Bring Light to Poor Countries
A project called Liter of Light has a solution. Its creators discovered that plastic bottles filled with a mixture of water and bleach “refract the light from outdoors into the house, lighting up much like a light bulb.” When placed on the roof of a house the bottle becomes an adequate and inexpensive source of light.
The project began in 2012 in the Philippines with the nonprofit MyShelter Foundation. The bleach bottle lights were an original idea of Alfredo Moser who shared it with the MyShelter Foundation, eventually developing into the Liter of Light project.
The life expectancy of one of these bleach bottle lights is five years. Since the concoction is simply one liter of water and three milliliters of bleach, it is cheap and easy to replace.
By using plastic bottles for the bleach bottle lights, communities reduce the amount of garbage they produce. Per the World Economic Forum, “eight million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year.” In places like the Philippines where the number of disposed of plastic bottles is one of the highest in the world, the Liter of Light project kills two birds with one stone.
Since the bottle only works with sunlight, Liter of Light came up with a solution for night time. Huffington Post stated, “by slipping a test tube with a small LED light bulb into the bottle, which in turn is hooked up to a mini-solar panel, the bottle can still refract light during the day, but then also be used as a light bulb at night.”
The overall goal for the Liter of Light project is to provide poor countries with a sustainable alternative to electricity in homes with the bleach bottle light. This is crucial because they cannot afford to pay for expensive repairs when the country is struggling financially. Bleach and water are much more accessible in the communities than electrical materials.
As of now, the bleach bottle lights provide a source of light to homes in 15 different countries. The bottles containing the LED light bulbs are the most popular amongst the 850,000 homes that rely on them.
The Liter of Light project won the 2015 Zayed Future Energy Prize and the 2014-2015 World Habitat Award for its work installing bleach bottle lights into hundreds of thousands of homes. The United Nations now uses the technology in its UNHCR camps. Within the next three years, the organization hopes to reach one million people and brighten up the world.
– Mackenzie Fielder
Photo: Liter of Light
Employment Reform Among Causes of Poverty in Germany
Agenda 2010 was created to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and ultimately reduce unemployment. Current data on Germany may seem to support the claim that Agenda 2010 has worked well and that perhaps isn’t one of the causes of poverty in Germany. The bureau of labor statistics sites a continual drop in unemployment, reaching a low of 3.9 percent in April 2017, and World Bank figures show a gross domestic product of $3.467 trillion for Germany in 2016.
The way Agenda 2010 achieved those results was by creating a new, flexible, exclusively part-time employment structure. The motivation was that an employed citizen was better than an unemployed one. To create this new type of temporary work, Agenda 2010 deregulated to encourage employers to hire part-time workers.
Agenda 2010 focused on getting the unemployed back to work. It also created what is known in Germany as the mini-job, a part-time employment that pays 450 euros a month tax-free. As the data shows, employers hired, and the unemployment rate dropped, but this system has caused poverty in Germany to reach its highest since reunification.
German news site DW reported a German study that classified 12.5 million Germans as poor. The poor are classified in Germany by earning less than 60 percent of the median household income, which for a single household is around 900 euros a month. Although Germans are employed, those employed in mini-jobs earn 450 euros, half of the median household income of a single household.
The Federal Agency of Statistics for Labor in Germany cites 7.5 million Germans working mini-jobs and two million Germans working two jobs. The causes of poverty in Germany can be directly linked to Agenda 2010, which created more employment opportunity while also creating a new working poor. During an interview with Euronews, Dierk Hirschel, chief economist of Verdi, spoke on the issue, “The problem we face in Germany is that one in five workers are paid less than ten euros an hour, they are the “working poor.”
– Yosef Flowers
Photo: Google