Jerusalem’s job market is characterized by large salary discrepancies among the various population groups. In addition, there are large discrepancies in the rate of participation in the workforce among the various groups. Relatively low rates of participation in the workforce are found among haredi (ultra-orthodox) men and among Arab women. These characteristics have created a unique phenomenon in Jerusalem, with a relatively low gap between the average monthly salaries of men and of women, but a large gap in their average number of work hours. In 2010 the average (gross) monthly salary of an employee in Jerusalem was NIS 7,300, which was lower than the figures for Tel Aviv (NIS 10,200) and Israel (NIS 8,600). An in-depth analysis of salary by gender indicates a gap of 29% between the average (gross) monthly salary of men in Jerusalem (NIS 8,100) and that of women (NIS 6,300). This gap was lower than the figures for Tel Aviv and Israel, where the average salary of men was higher than that of women by 51%.

The opposite pattern exists with respect to the gap between the number of average weekly work hours of men and that of women. The average number of weekly work hours of men in Jerusalem (44 hours per week) was higher than that of women (33 hours per week) by 33%. This gap was higher than the figure for Tel Aviv, where the average number of weekly work hours of men was higher than the figure for women by 13%. In Israel the gap was 25%.

These two phenomena have created a situation in which the average (gross) hourly wage of women in Jerusalem (NIS 43) was higher than that of men (NIS 41) by 5%. This differs from the situation in Israel, where the average hourly wage of women (NIS 43) was lower than that of men (NIS 51) by 16%, and in Tel Aviv, where the average hourly wage of women (NIS 50) was lower than that of men (NIS 59) by 15%. 

Data source: Income Survey 2012, Central Bureau of Statistics