This report's overarching objectiveis to increase understanding of the causes of poverty inorder to find ways to reduce it among Palestinaians. Threebroad messages emerge from this report: 1) Unless thePalestinian territories are able to achieve high levels ofeconomic growth, the prospects for future poverty reductionare not encouraging. not only will the number of poorPalestinians grow rapidly, but their share in the populationwill also increase, which could become a sociallydestabilizing factor. 2) Unless Palestinians gain greateraccess to external markets and to better paying jobs,whether in Israel or in higher productivity occupations, itwill be difficult for them to escape poverty. Presently, themajority of poor Palestinians live in households headed byworking adults in low-paying jobs that do not providesufficient income to raise their families to a minimallyacceptable standard of living. 3) The formal safety net doesnot have the financial resources necessary to have asignificant impact on poverty. Nevertheless, it can play animportant role in helping to reduce destitution amonghouseholds headed by the unemployable poor and even thetemporarily unemployed. The report's four chapterscompare poverty levels and discuss the microdeterminants ofpoverty; analyze the impacts of economic growth, incomeredistribution, and labor markets; detail the poverty map;and discuss improving the social safety net.
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