The geography of children's welfare in Israel: The role of nationality, religion, socio-economic factors and social worker availability

The study examined the relations between various characteristics of Israeli localities and three indicators of children's welfare: rates of reports on child maltreatment to child protection officers (CPO), rates of children registered at the social services, and rates of minor offenders on probation. A set of characteristics of 163 localities-including socio-economic status, religion, nationality, geography, demography and social services availability-was used to explore possible links with these indicators. Using secondary data analysis, the study found rates of child welfare indicators to vary considerably across localities. Multivariate hierarchical regression showed that Arab localities had lower rates of reported cases of child maltreatment and minor offenders on probation than Jewish localities with low concentrations of ultra-Orthodox Jews (i.e. the majority of localities in Israel). Ultra-Orthodox localities had lower rates of reported cases of child maltreatment but had higher rates of children known to social services than localities with lower concentrations of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Rates of children known to social services were lower in poorer localities. The ratio of social workers to residents and CPOs to children were correlated positively with the various child welfare indicators. The Discussion section examines the need for a more equal distribution of economic and social services resources.