Status of caregivers as immigrants.

An estimated 60,000 foreign caregivers are currently providing home care for elderly or handicapped Israelis. But the system is very bad for caregivers- who have no voice- and bad for those for whom they care. It is exploitive and immoral, and bad for the country. Reforming the system to make it honest, effective and workable will not only benefit those involved, but will also be an expression of the determination to make the society a just one.

Under the present system, young caregivers from foreign nations are imported by private companies to care for old or handicapped people in their homes. In return for the minimum wage- which no Israeli doing comparable work would accept- they are on duty for 24 hrs a day, six days a week, but are permitted in the country for only up to five years and three months, unless the people they are caring for live longer. After the end of this period, they must leave the country.

Add to this the fact that for this relatively brief opportunity to send money home, caregivers must return over 16 to 18 months’ worth salary to private companies who arranged work visas and placed them with their employers, and they end up gaining nothing. On their arrival to Israel, caregivers are assigned by these labour contractors to an employer who has a certificate from the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry stating that he or she is sufficiently incapacitated to be unable to live independently.

There is no supervision over the work conditions of the caregivers. They can face anything. They may not be allowed to use cell phones or turning on lights on Shabbat, and many other things, for reasons they may not understand. Sometimes, they might not even have their personal room.

In addition to the salaries, employers are also responsible for the underwriting of the private health insurance of the caregiver (which is somewhere around NIS 450 per month) and payments to the National Insurance Institute, and there are some other expenses as well. So, even though caregivers do no earn much, they do cost a lot.

Caregivers are offered citizenships and permanent residence after some years in countries like the United States, Canada and most Western European countries. And recently, these countries, as well as New Zealand and the UK, have shortened the period that must pass before the caregiver is eligible to apply for permanent residency.

However, in Israel, we thank these caregivers by deporting them as soon as their five years and three months are over.