Policy for Promoting High-Quality Employment among Young Adults in Israel’s Arab Society

The employment rate of Israeli Arab men aged 18 to 24 has been declining since 2017. This decrease in the employment of young Arab men has been almost fully reflected in a dramatic increase in the share of young men who are not engaged in any formal framework of study or employment, which reached 32% and 26% of Arab men aged 18-20 and 21-24, respectively, at the first quarter of 2022. Examination of the relation between the characteristics of young Arab adults and their likelihood to be disengaged from any formal framework reveals that: (1) residents of mixed Arab-Jewish cities are less likely to be disengaged, and the gap between this group and residents of other regions has expanded, a finding which may reflect macroeconomic differences in employment and education opportunities and access to employment areas, as well as disparities between young people in different regions regarding Hebrew language proficiency, considering that the situation in both respects is likely to be better in mixed cities; (2) the “strength” of the matriculation certificate in enhancing integration into further frameworks has diminished, and the share of disengaged young adults has increased among those with matriculation as well; (3) the estimate of the constant has risen, an increase which represents macroeconomic shifts in the labor market along with changes in characteristics not observed in this study, such as decreasing skill levels and Hebrew language proficiency, as well as changing preferences, all of which reduce the likelihood that young Arab adults would integrate into employment.

The phenomenon of disengaged young adults in Arab society is closely related to the lack of skills among young Arab adults and the large disparities in human capital outcomes between them and young Jewish adults at the age of 18: lower quality of high school completion certification, lower proficiency levels in mathematics, language and digital literacy, and lower Hebrew language proficiency. These barriers are compounded by a lack of information, guidance, and transition programmes for young Arab adults.