The Dynamics of Earnings Inequality between Israel's Sub-Populations: A Longitudinal Perspective

We review results from previous research on the dynamics of earnings inequality in Israel. For as diverse society as Israel, we focus attention on the role of education in producing differential earnings trajectories between men and women, Jews and Arabs, and Ashkenazi-Jews and Mizrahi-Jews. This review highlights the importance of the longitudinal perspective for studying income inequality, as we show that earnings inequality is dynamic in Israel, evolving with varying rates over the life course and between sub-populations. We also show that returns on education are significant; tend to increase with age; but are also similar across Israel's sub-populations. We discuss longstanding and emerging mechanisms contributing to earnings inequality between Israel's sub-populations.