Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)

In a speech delivered to mark the one year aftermath of the 2014 aggression on Gaza Strip, Ms. Awad announces the results of the survey on the Impact of the Israeli Aggression in 2014, on Socio-Economic Conditions of the Households in Gaza Strip

Ms. Ola Awad declared the final results of  the indicators of the survey on the Impact of the Israeli Aggression in 2014, on Socio-Economic Conditions of the Households in Gaza Strip during a special press conference organized by PCBS   on  Tuesday 06/10/2015 at  the PCBS premises in Gaza city, the conference date marked one year  on the end of the 2014 aggression on Gaza Strip which lasted for 52 days.

Ms. Awad indicated that the implementation of this survey within the second half of 2015 was in cooperation with a number of UN agencies as well as the World Bank and aimed at observing the effects of the 2014 aggression on the Socio-economic status of  Palestinian households in Gaza Strip. The indicators from this survey  reflects on many aspects of social and economic life and intersects  with the indicators system which provides a database basis for all relevant parties of interest.  Ms. Awad added that the indicators from this survey will be formulated in a manner which  will include the population displacement during the aggression as well as its aftermath, the extent of the effect on the life of its inhabitants in the field of labor, income, expenditure, the availability of food and other necessary needs It will also include the types and source of assistance   provided to the households due to the aggression, as well as the difficulties in accessing the various public facilities.

Ms. Ola Awad , President of PCBS , displayed  the most important results of the survey on the Impact of the Israeli Aggression in 2014 , as follows:

Design the Survey  sample:

For the first time, PCBS designed the sample of the survey on the basis of tracking the same sample of participants that were interviewed one year before the aggression as a PANEL survey, aiming to measure the extent and the trend of the changes that occurred to the household’s socio-economic conditions. The sample size was 3,150 households in Gaza Strip and it was a stratified random cluster sample of regular two stages.

Impact of 2014 Aggression on Place of Residence:

1.      About 9% of the households in Gaza Strip changed their place of residence due to the Israeli aggression in 2014

2.      Gaza and Rafah governorates marked the highest percentage of households which changed their place of residence due to the aggression, with 11% each

3.      Deir Al Balah governorate scored lowest at 5%.

Displacement:

1. 59% of the individuals in Gaza Strip were displaced from their place of residence during the 2014 aggression

2. 78% of the individuals moved during the 2014 aggression to the homes of their parents’, sons, relatives or secondary residence as a first place to which individuals moved to

3. 18% of individuals sought shelter in schools

4. 4% rented hotel rooms/ houses, moved to hospitals, places of worship or pubic areas and squares.

Number of Fled Times:

1. 63% of the individuals in Gaza Strip who moved during the 2014 aggression moved from their place of residence to a different place once

2. 24% of them moved twice

3. 7% of them moved three times

4. 6% of them moved four times

Impact of 2014 Aggression on the Labor Force:

1. 13% of the workers were either employers or self-employed

2. 25% of the employers and self-employed had no change to their work during the 2014 aggression

3. 59% of them suffered deterioration of their business after the aggression

4. 16% had to stop their business entirely

• As for wage employees, their percentage was 85%:

1.      56% of them didn't encounter any changes to their wages during the 2014 aggression

2.      38% did not receive their pay during the aggression of 2014 as it stopped entirely

3.      5% their wages had decreased.     

• For the forced absence during the aggression:

1.      64% of wage employees were forced to stop working , of which 75% did not receive any compensation for the days absent

2.      The average number of days of forced absence reached 50 days, where  82% of the employees forced to be absent from work throughout the entire duration of the aggression.

Impact of the Aggression on the Infrastructure:

1. 87% of the households in Gaza Strip encountered several cuts per week in water supply from the public network

2.  97% of the households endured a daily cut, and for limited hours during the day in electricity supply service from the public network.

Receiving Assistance During and After the Aggression:

1. 57% of the households in Gaza Strip received assistance during the aggression of 2014

2. 75% of the households in Gaza Strip received assistance after the end of the 2014 aggression

Type of Assistance:

1. 63% of the households that received assistance during the aggression in Gaza Strip received food assistance of, while 82% of the households received assistance after the end of the aggression (the assistance included food, food coupons and schools meals)

2. Housing assistance (shelter center, dwelling rent fee and caravan) was received by 13% of the households during the aggression and 23% of the households after the aggression ended

3. Cash assistance was received by 9% of the households during the aggression and 33% of the households after the end of the aggression

Source of Assistance:

1. UNRWA represented the first source of assistance which served 36% of the households who received assistance during the aggression and 60% of the households who received assistance after the end of the aggression

2. Charitable/Religion associations were the resource for 14% of the households who received assistance during the aggression and 12% of the households who received assistance after the end of the aggression

3. International Agencies/Development Institutions provided 12% of the households who received assistance during the aggression and 21% of the households who received assistance after the aggression

4. As for Ministry of Social Affairs, it served 8% of households who received assistance during the aggression, and 26% of the households who received assistance after the end of the aggression

Loans:

1. 54% of the households in Gaza Strip received loans, advances or debts during the aggression in 2014

2. 99% of the households that received loans, advances or debts during the last 12 months have spent these loans on living or food

Exposure to Shocks:

1. 73% of the households or one of its members in Gaza Strip were  exposed to lack of water during the second half of 2014

2. 46% of the households could not afford medication expenses

3. 36% of the households could not receive medical services due to lack of medicine and medical tools

4. 22% of the households endured loss in properties

Income Status:

1. 53% of the households in Gaza Strip, have had a decrease in their income

2. 45% of the households in Gaza Strip have kept their level of income during the aggression compared with the reality of their income prior to the aggression

Households' Steadfastness Period:

1.      When households were asked about how long they could sustain themselves financially within the same conditions, 33% of the households said that they could sustain their standard of living for any period.

2.      15% of them reported facing serious financial instability and that they were not sure how to manage their living

3.      Other responses varied but did not exceed at best one year of living under decent conditions

 Thinking of Emigration:

• 24% of the households reported that they thought about emigration in the period between 2009 till before 2014; this percentage rose to 29% after the aggression.