(ANSAmed) - RAMALLAH, NOVEMBER 21 - Over 100,000
Palestinians work in Israel and about 20,000 in Israeli
settlements in the West Bank.
These figures were released by the Palestinian Central
Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) as part of a study on labor in the
Occupied Territories and the Gaza Strip.
Data shows that over 103,000 were working in Israel between
July and September 2013. Some 60% were employed in construction
and about a third of them did not have a work permit. Of the
others, 51,100 had received Israeli authorization and 17,600 had
an Israeli ID card or a foreign passport.
The report shows 44.9% of the West Bank population is
employed and 41.4% of that in the Gaza Strip. There is a large
gap between male and female participation, with 69.5% of men
employed but only 17.1% of women.
The Gaza Strip suffers from 32.5% unemployment, compared
with 19.1% in the West Bank. Youth unemployment is at 43% for
those between ages 20 and 24. Child labor is problematic, with
an average of 4% of those between the ages of 10 and 17 holding
down jobs: 5.7% in the West Bank and 1.3% in the Gaza Strip.
The report shows that average monthly wages are around
1,000 shekels (about 200 euros) in the West Bank and about 800
shekels (about 160 euros) in Gaza. (ANSAmed).
