<\/p>\n
The labor market in Western countries in general, and in Israel in particular, has become increasingly dualistic. On the one hand, there is the primary market, in which employees receive average or high salaries and enjoy employment stability and social benefits in accordance with labor legislation, along with the possibility of development and advancement. On the other hand, there has developed a secondary market, characterized by low wages, hourly employment by contractors, high fungibility, workplace rights infractions and considerable instability. All this in addition to the reduction of mid-range jobs, having become superfluous due to technological developments. Several ongoing processes contributed to this situation: firstly, the transfer of industries characterized by unionization and employment stability to developing countries, concurrent with the growth of low-wage sales and service jobs. Secondly, privatization of public services, together with the development of the paradigm of flexible employment, the aim of which is to lower the cost of labor at the expense of stable full-time positions, and the development of precarious forms of employment in the public as well as the private sector. Thirdly, a sharp and continuing decrease in the percentage of organized workers whose workplace rights are protected by their unions.<\/p>\n
These are the trends behind the phenomenon of low-wage employment. The present study examines the trends vis-\u00e0-vis such employment in recent years, as well as the characteristics of the workers themselves. The study was undertaken in view of the high percentage, in international comparison, of low-wage workers in Israel, the increase in the proportion of working families living in poverty, and the reduction of remuneration for work.<\/p>\n
Low-wage work is not an inevitable phenomenon, and there are steps that can be taken to reduce its prevalence, as recommended by the OECD. These include periodically increasing the minimum wage,\u00a0 buttressing public investment in active labor policies, strengthening government enforcement of workplace laws, and encouraging unionization, especially in the private sector.<\/p>\n
Main Findings<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This study, supported by Mazon-A Jewish Response to Hunger, deals with salaried and self-employed workers whose income from work is defined as low, that is, no more than two-thirds of the median monthly pay nationwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[109,926,107,1074,1073,202],"class_list":["post-16635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employment","tag-labor-rights","tag-organized-labor","tag-self-employed","tag-1074","tag-low-wage","tag-employment","author-142","author-miri-endweld","author-129","post-type-research","category-15"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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