A national plan for aging with dignity
Israel is aging rapidly, but the country is not yet ready. Seniors’ pensions are eroding, the nursing care system is in crisis, and too many senior citizens are being forced to deal with poverty, loneliness, lack of protection, and systems that are not adapted to their needs.
But this reality is not fate. We are here to bring senior citizens and their needs back to the government table, build long-term policies, and ensure that every Israeli can grow old with economic security, health, and dignity.
This is the repair we will make – B’Yachad.
What's the problem?
Israel is aging rapidly, but the country is far from ready for it. Already today, about a quarter million senior citizens live here – about 13% of the population – and in 40 years their number is expected to approach three million. The sharpest increase is expected among those aged 85 and over who will constitute about a quarter of all senior citizens.
At the same time, for many seniors, aging in Israel comes with economic erosion, pensions that are insufficient for living a life with dignity, a complex and fragile nursing care system, loneliness and food insecurity. Even in times of emergency, there is still no sufficient national system providing for evacuation, protection and support for the elderly and people with disabilities.
And the price of lack of preparation will only increase: If Israel does not build a long-term policy for the aging population now, national spending in this area, as a percentage of GDP, could double.
What's the solution?
First of all, we will bring issues impacting senior citizens back to the government table by re-establishing the Senior Citizens Cabinet from the days of the Government of Change and setting national goals for what aging should look like in Israeli society.
We will restore economic security for the elderly: we will link seniors’ pensions to the average wage in the economy to stop pensions from being eroded, and we will raise pensions differentially so that those with lower incomes will receive more – with pensions for the poorest senior citizens being doubled. We will also significantly increase the annual grant for the poorest Holocaust survivors.
We will also bring about order in the field of nursing: we will increase the nursing care benefit for the elderly facing the most difficult situations, we will support family members who provide care for loved ones, we will improve training and conditions of hourly caregivers and fight the phenomenon of false reporting of working hours, and we will solve the shortage of manpower in around-the-clock nursing care.
We will help people age more healthily: we will invest in preventive medicine and delaying functional decline, and we will fund national programs to deal with dementia and combat loneliness.
We will provide solutions for independence for seniors: we will encourage employment, volunteering, leisure and entrepreneurship for senior citizens. We will also formulate a national planning and accessibility policy to prevent their exclusion from the public sphere and enable them to continue living in their communities.
We will prepare for emergencies: we will formulate plans for the widespread evacuation of the elderly and people with disabilities, we will ensure practical and emotional assistance to those who remain in their homes, and we will implement a multi-year plan to ensure all nursing homes and geriatric and nursing institutions in Israel have adequate protection for wartime.
How will we know we've succeeded?
Reduced poverty rates among seniors
In the Government of Change, we reduced the poverty rate among senior citizens from 15% to 12.7%. The next target should be 10%.
Support for the elderly in nursing care
Hourly caregivers will work the hours they are committed to based on the elderly person's condition, and any nursing home resident who needs a personal caregiver will be entitled to top quality, continuous, and economically-accessible service.
Israel will be among the world leaders in years of healthy living for seniors
Today, senior citizens in Israel live an average of about 11.5 years in good health after age 65. Our goal is to reach the level of developed countries like Norway and Sweden, with 15 years of healthy life.
We'll reach goals for senior employment - and set new ones
By 2030, we will reach the employment goals adopted by the Government of Change - 43.5% of men and 28.5% of women aged 67-74. At the same time, new goals will be set for 2040.
We'll be prepared for emergencies
All public institutions in Israel where senior citizens in Israel reside will have the required accessible protection for wartime, and we will be prepared with a contingency plan for the evacuation of all seniors and people with disabilities who live in their own homes and do not have access to the necessary protection.
B'Yachad, we'll ensure our seniors can age with dignity.
01
We will provide an economic safety net for senior citizens: We will link the seniors’ pensions to changes in the average wage in the economy instead of changes in the consumer price index in order to stop their erosion. At the same time, we will increase the pensions differentially for approximately 350,000 senior citizens, so that every senior citizen whose income is less than 10,000 shekels will receive an increase, and those with the lowest incomes will receive the largest increase – with their pensions being doubled. In addition, we will expand eligibility for discounts on property taxes and electricity for senior citizens.
02
We will get nursing care in order: We will increase the National Insurance nursing care benefit for the most difficult situations and eliminate the distinction in the benefit between those who employ an Israeli worker and those who employ a foreign worker. We will officially recognize family caregivers and build a national program for them of training and responding to their economic, emotional, and practical needs. We will improve the training and conditions of hourly nursing care providers and fight against reporting of hours of care that were not actually provided. At the same time, we will settle the 24/7 nursing care workforce crisis by increasing the supply of foreign workers as well as increasing supervision of placement offices and nursing care companies. We will also establish an inter-ministerial task force to handle cases of abuse by caregivers.
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Healthier aging: We will formulate a strategic plan for preventive medicine and encouraging a healthy lifestyle as well as change the incentives in the field of nursing so that more is invested in delaying functional decline and reducing the need for nursing care. We will fund the national plan to deal with Alzheimer’s and dementia, invest in community centers for the elderly, and implement a national plan to combat loneliness that will bring together community, mental health, and welfare-based solutions.
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Leaving no senior citizens behind in times of emergency: We will formulate a national contingency plan for the broad evacuation of seniors and people with disabilities in times of emergency. We will create an infrastructure of community shelters for those who do not wish to evacuate but need practical and emotional assistance at home. At the same time, we will build a multi-year plan to provide adequate civil defense protection for nursing homes and geriatric and nursing care institutions.
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We will ensure financial security for Holocaust survivors: We will increase the annual grant for the poorest Holocaust survivors, the vast majority of whom are from the former Soviet Union, and establish an automatic adjustment mechanism for the monthly allowance of Holocaust survivors to prevent its erosion and ensure stability and financial security over time.
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Allowing people to continue working, volunteering, and being an active part of society: We will promote projects in the areas of leisure and volunteering and encourage local authorities to establish community centers at affordable prices. We will set targets for employment of senior citizens, provide incentives to employers, and expand designated employment tracks in the civil service. We will expand employment centers nationwide and promote placement, professional training, and entrepreneurship alongside expanding digital literacy training. We will also promote a year of service for senior citizens. At the same time, we will formulate a national policy that will ensure accessible and continuous sidewalks, shade and seating, accessible public transportation, and essential services within walking distance – all to enable senior citizens to continue to live independently and be an active part of the community.
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Bringing aging back to the government table: We will re-establish the Cabinet on Aging that operated during the Government of Change to coordinate systemic and organized care for senior citizens and prepare for the accelerated aging of our population. We will continue to implement the government decision from the Government of Change to ensure we have the proper data necessary to measure progress on promoting healthy aging. We will also set goals for the decade ahead for all those measured indicators, including in health, meaning and mental well-being, and economic resilience.
