Record number of ultra-Orthodox women join Israeli workforce
More and more Israeli ultra-Orthodox women turn to computer programming, accounting, entrepreneurship and other jobs instead of traditional positions in the education system.
![Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women work on computers in the central city of Holon on April 17, 2016.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/2022-02/GettyImages-545932416.jpeg?h=a5ae579a&itok=p39iOinv)
The rate of employment among ultra-Orthodox Jewish women reached an all-time record in the final quarter of 2021, catching up with the rate among non-Orthodox Israeli women at 83%, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. These are impressive numbers given that the government-set target for 2020 was only 63% and that employment among another highly conservative Israeli minority, Arab women, has seen slight improvement but is generally stagnant at 40.5%.
The trumpeted achievement notwithstanding, we wish to spoil the party a bit.