Recent Study: Chareidim Prefer Gemachem Over Banks

Many Chareidim living in Israel avoid taking bank loans, says a new poll that was recently released. 34% of people who participated in the study said that if in need of a loan they would turn to family and friends before going to the bank. 25% said they would turn to a gemach and only 24% said they would in fact take a loan from a bank.

Although many Chareidim prefer to avoid the banks if possible, 38% of those polled said they feel the banks are fare with the Chareidi community. 29% said they feel the banks respect chareidim, while 15% said they feel they have a harder time obtaining a loan because they are chareidi.

The study was conducted by the chaeridi research institute ‘’Seker Ke’halacha’’, on behalf of “Hamodia” which will be holding it’s ‘Business and economy’ conference this Sunday. The study was published ahead of the conference, which is set to take place on Sunday at the Center for congresses and conferences Avenue, located in Kiryat sde hatiufa. The survey was conducted with the help of 425 people from over 40 different Chareidi sects and communities who participate in the study. The study holds a marginal error of 4.5%.

The study also identified saving habits of the chareidi community. 24% percent of those taking part in the poll said they don’t put away any savings at all. 37% save a 1000 Nis a month, 11% save between 1000-2000, 5% over four thousand a month and a mere 2% save even more. 21% of those polled refused to answer. The polls also show that 61% are putting money away for retirement and that women tend to save more than men for retirement.

Checking the economical satisfaction, the poll revealed that 40% are very satisfied with their financial situation, 32% feel moderately about it and only 28% are either barley or not satisfied at all.

Also evident from the poll, is that the Chareidi community is very optimistic about their financial situation and assume that their situation will improve over the next five years. 65% of those polled said they assumed their financial situation will improve, 27% assume it will stay the same and only 8% assume it will get worse.

Translated by Eli B.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!