Middle Class in Israel

Yair Lapid, Israel’s finance minister, created an imaginary person who he believes embodies the country’s middle class:

Her name is Riki Cohen, she is 37 and a teacher, and she lives in Hadera, a small city between Tel Aviv and Haifa. She has three children and a husband who works in the high-tech sector. Together, the Cohens earn just over $5,500 a month. They travel abroad every two years and worry about having to assist their children financially well into adulthood.

Unfortunately for Lapid, people began pointing out that Riki’s income was higher than the national average of $3,300 and that the finance minister was out of touch with reality. We often debate about what it means to be middle class in America, and that debate is happening in Israel right now too. [Thanks to Emer for the pointer!]

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