04/12/2008
"The overall well-being of 45% of Palestinian households deteriorated in September2003, and closure was an obstacle faced more than half of the Palestinian households during past six months"
PCBS conducted the first round of the survey on the perception of the Palestinian people about the socioeconomic conditions. Data collection took place during the period 27/9/2003 - 04/10/2003 on a sample composed of 1188 households, of which 1182 completed the interview (798 in West Bank and 384 in Gaza Strip).
Current Situation
45.3% of interviewed persons reported that the overall well being of their households is worse in September compared with a month ago (45.3% in the West Bank and 45.5% in Gaza Strip),while 10.0% reported that it is better (11.1 % in the West Bank and 7.8% in Gaza Strip).
4.2% during interviewing reported that the ability of households members to move around is significantly harder this week compared with a week ago (5.2% in the West Bank and 2.4% in Gaza Strip), while 2.9% reported that it is significantly easier (2.8% in the West Bank and3.1% in Gaza Strip).
Short Term Expectations:
About 7.4% of the respondents expected that overall well being of households will be much worse in a month time (6.5% in the West Bank and 8.8% in Gaza Strip), against 2.9%expected that it will be much better (3.2% in the West Bank and 2.4% in Gaza Strip).
Data reveal that the Palestinian people have an optimistic trend of perception in the short and medium run future. It is worth mentioning that the older and more educated persons have amore cautious optimistic perception trend. No significant differences were observed in the perception of Palestinian people by refugee status at the short run, despite the fact that refugees are more optimistic at the long run.
4.2% of interviewed persons reported that the ability of households members to move around is significantly harder next month compared with interviewing week (4.3% in the West Bank and 4.1% in Gaza Strip), while 1.8% reported that it is significantly easier (2.2% in the West Bank and 1.1% in Gaza Strip).
17.2% of interviewed persons reported that they are very pessimistic to find a job next month,while 1.4% were optimistic.
long Term Expectations:
About 10.1% of the respondents expected that overall well being of households will be much worse in six months time (9.1% in the West Bank and 11.9% in Gaza Strip), against 6.2%expected that life will be much better (5.9% in the West Bank and 6.8% in Gaza Strip).
8.6% of interviewed persons reported that the ability of households members to move around is significantly harder in six months time compared with interviewing week (9.2% in the West Bank and 7.4% in Gaza Strip), while 5.0% reported that it is significantly easier (5.9% in the West Bank and 3.3% in Gaza Strip).
Priorities of households:
Data reveal that 26.2% of the households reported the need for food as a first priority, 18.8%the need for work, 21.0% the need for financial assistance and 8.1% reported the need for health services as a first priority.
Priority Needs of Communities:
About 5.1% reported that the most important need for their community is food assistance,46.9% reported the need for work, 15.4% for health services, and 19.9% reported the need for facilities infrastructure.
Comparing the results of the current survey round with the large-scale pilot survey conducted in August 2003, we could observe that at the short run the percentage optimistic people increased and percentage of pessimistic people decreased with regard of to overall well-being of households, mobility, and possibility to meet the needs of the households and communities, on the contrary, unemployed persons were less optimistic to find a job. At the medium run, the level of optimism declined with regard to all aspects under study, including the overall well-being, mobility, finding a job, and the possibility to meet the basic needs of households and communities.
Main changes in the indicator of attitudes of Palestinians in the Palestinian Territory
| September 2003 |
August 2003 |
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| Indicator |
||||
| Next six Months |
Next Month |
Next Year |
Next Month |
|
|
|
||||
| Percentage of households who expect better life |
40.5 |
34.5 |
51.0 |
30.9 |
| Percentage of households who expect better mobility ( less mobility restrictions) |
31.9 |
26.9 |
21.2 |
|
|
|
||||
| Percentage of unemployed persons who are optimistic to find a job |
||||
|
|
43.7 |
39.1 |
72.8 |
41.9 |
| Percentage of persons who are optimistic to meet household basic needs |
||||
|
|
55.3 |
50.5 |
63.2 |
43.0 |
| Percentage of persons who are optimistic to meet the community basic needs |
||||
|
|
49.3 |
41.1 |
55.0 |
33.0 |
Main changes in the indicators of attitudes of Palestinians in West Rank
| September 2003 |
August 2003 |
|||
| Indicator |
||||
| Next six Months |
Next Month |
Next Year |
Next Month |
|
|
|
||||
| Percentage of households who expect better life |
41.7 |
35.9 |
50.7 |
31.4 |
| Percentage of households who expect better mobility (less mobility restrictions) |
||||
|
|
37.9 |
32.6 |
24.2 |
|
| Percentage of unemployed persons who are optimistic to find a job |
||||
| 46.3 |
41.8 |
77.4 |
41.9 |
|
| Percentage of persons who are optimistic to meet household basic needs |
||||
|
|
59.5 |
56.7 |
63.1 |
42.1 |
| Percentage of persons who are optimistic to meet the community basic needs |
||||
|
|
53.9 |
46.9 |
52.5 |
31.4 |
The changes come about main indicators of attitude of Palestinian in Gaza Strip
| September 2003 |
August 2003 |
|||
| Indicator |
||||
| Next six Months |
Next Month |
Next Year |
Next month |
|
|
|
||||
| Percentage of households who expect better life |
38.2 |
32.0 |
51.6 |
30.2 |
| Percentage of households who expect better Mobility (less mobility restricoons) |
||||
|
|
20.5 |
16.2 |
15.4 |
|
| Percentage of unemployed persons who are optimistic to find a job |
||||
|
|
36.2 |
30.9 |
64.9 |
41.8 |
| Percentage of persons who are optimistic to meet household basic needs |
||||
|
|
49.3 |
40.1 |
63.4 |
44.9 |
| Percentage of persons who are optimistic to meet the community basic needs |
||||
|
|
41.1 |
30.8 |
59.8 |
35.9 |
Table 1: The Attitude of Palestinians towards the Overall "Quality of Life" Enjoyed by the Households Today Compared With One Month Ago by Region (September,2003)
| Attitude |
Gaza strip% |
West Bank% |
Palestinian Territory% |
| A lot better today |
2.6 |
3.3 |
3.1 |
| Somewhat better today |
5.2 |
7.0 |
6.9 |
| About the same/ Unchanged |
46.7 |
43.6 |
44.7 |
| Somewhat worse today |
33. 2 |
33. 3 |
33. 3 |
| A lot worse today |
12. 3 |
12. 0 |
12. 0 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Tablet: The Attitude of Palestinians Toward the Overall "Quality of Life" Enjoyed by the Households in the Future Compared with Today and Region, (September 2003)
| Region and Time Period |
||||||||||
| Gaza Strip |
West Bank |
Palestinian Territory |
||||||||
| Attitude |
||||||||||
| Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
| A lot better from now |
6. 8 |
2. 4 |
5. 9 |
3. 2 |
6. 2 |
2. 9 |
||||
| Somewhat better from now |
31. 4 |
29. 6 |
35. 8 |
32. 7 |
34. 3 |
31. 6 |
||||
| About the same /unchanged |
29. 0 |
35. 5 |
26. 9 |
30. 8 |
27. 6 |
32. 4 |
||||
| Somewhat worse from now |
20. 9 |
23. 7 |
22. 3 |
26. 8 |
21. 8 |
25. 7 |
||||
| A lot worse from now |
11. 9 |
8 .8 |
9 .1 |
6 .5 |
10. 1 |
7 .4 |
||||
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
||||
Table 3: The Attitude of Palestinians Toward the Overall "Quality of Life" Enjoyed by the Households in the Future by Selected Characteristics (September 2003)
| Time Period |
|||||||
| Characteristics |
Next Six Months% |
Next Month |
|||||
|
|
|||||||
| Worse% |
Better% |
Worse% |
Better% |
||||
| Age Group |
|||||||
| 15-24 |
27. 6 |
49. 6 |
30. 3 |
41. 0 |
|||
| 25-44 |
30. 8 |
36. 4 |
31. 8 |
30. 6 |
|||
| 45+ |
38. 7 |
35. 6 |
38. 3 |
32. 7 |
|||
| Refugee status |
|||||||
| Refugee |
32. 0 |
40. 8 |
32. 7 |
35. 8 |
|||
| Non - Refugee |
31. 7 |
40. 4 |
33. 3 |
33. 8 |
|||
| Type of Identity |
|||||||
| Palestinian Identity Card |
30. 4 |
42. 0 |
31. 9 |
36. 0 |
|||
| Jerusalem Identity Card |
49. 2 |
23. 3 |
45. 1 |
21. 0 |
|||
| Israeli Identity Card |
56. 1 |
25. 9 |
56. 1 |
21. 8 |
|||
Table 3-cont: The Attitude of Palestinians Toward the Overall "Quality of Life" Enjoyed by the Households Today Compared with Last Month and Their Expectation in the Future by Selected Characteristics (August 2003)
| Time Period |
||||||
| Characteristics |
Next six Months% |
Next Month |
||||
|
|
||||||
| Worse% |
Better% |
Worse% |
Better% |
|||
| Education |
||||||
| Less than Preparatory |
33. 5 |
39. 8 |
34. 5 |
36. 2 |
||
| Preparatory-secondary |
27.4 |
42.8 |
30.2 |
35.3 |
||
| Diploma |
42. 0 |
32. 6 |
39. 5 |
25. 3 |
||
| Bachelor+ |
48. 5 |
31. 4 |
42. 3 |
25. 6 |
||
Table 4: Distribution of Palestinian Households by the Level of Disturbance Caused by Restrictions on Mobility Imposed by Israeli military forces and Region, (September 2003)
| Region and Time Period |
||||||
| Gaza Strip |
West Bank |
Palestinian Territory |
||||
| Level of Disturbance |
||||||
| Past Six Months% |
Past Month% |
Past Six Months% |
Past Month% |
Past Six Months% |
Past Month% |
|
|
|
|
|
||||
| A lot |
34.4 |
27.0 |
64.9 |
64.8 |
53.8 |
51.1 |
| A little |
21.6 |
22.9 |
19.2 |
18.6 |
20.1 |
20.1 |
| Not at all |
44 .0 |
50.1 |
15. 9 |
16 .6 |
26. 1 |
28 .8 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Table 5: Distribution of Palestinian Households by the Need Medical Care for Households in the Past Month and Past Six Months and Region, (September 2003)
| Region and Period |
|||||||
| Gaza Strip |
West Bank |
Palestinian Territory |
|||||
| Need for medical care |
|||||||
| Past Six Months% |
Past Month% | Past Six Months% |
Past Month% | Past Six Months% |
Past Month% | ||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Yes |
74. 2 |
67. 2 |
74. 9 |
71. 2 |
74. 6 |
69. 8 |
|
| No |
25. 5 |
32. 8 |
24. 6 |
28. 8 |
24. 9 |
30. 2 |
|
| Don't know/ no answer |
0 .3 |
0 .5 |
0 .5 |
||||
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Table 6: Distribution of Palestinian Households by ability for household member to access Necessary Medical Care in the Past Month and Past Six Months and Region, (September 2003)
| Region and Time Period |
|||||||
| Ability to access medical care |
Past Six Months% |
Past Month% | Past Six Months% |
Past Months% | Past Six Months% |
Past Month% | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Impossible |
1.0 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
1.3 |
||
| Very difficult |
6.0 |
5.5 |
23.1 |
20.4 |
17.2 |
15.4 |
|
| Difficult |
7.3 |
7.9 |
27.0 |
29.1 |
20.2 |
22.0 |
|
| Few problems |
33.7 |
34.2 |
20.1 |
19.9 |
24.7 |
24.7 |
|
| No problem at all |
52. 0 |
52. 4 |
27. 7 |
28 .7 |
36. 1 |
36 .6 |
|
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Table 7: Distribution of Palestinian Households by ability of household member to reach work place in the Past Month and Past Six Months and Region (September 2003)
|
Region and Period |
|||||||
| Gaza Strip |
west Bank |
Palestinian Territory |
|||||
| Ability to reach place of work |
|||||||
| Past six Months% |
Past Month% |
Past Six Months% |
Past Month% |
Past Six Months% |
Past Month% |
||
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Impossible |
0.3 |
0.4 |
1.7 |
2.7 |
1.2 |
1.9 |
|
| Very difficult |
11.8 |
8.4 |
22.2 |
20.0 |
18.6 |
16.0 |
|
| Difficult |
6.7 |
4.5 |
21.6 |
22.0 |
16.5 |
16.0 |
|
| Few problems |
19.7 |
21.0 |
19.2 |
17.2 |
19.4 |
18.5 |
|
| No problem at all |
61. 5 |
65. 7 |
35. 3 |
38. 1 |
44. 3 |
47. 6 |
|
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Table 8: Distribution of Palestinian Households by Ability to Cultivate Land in the Past Month and Past Six Months and Region (September 2003)
| Region and Time Period |
|||||||
| Gaza Strip |
West Bank |
Palestinian Territory |
|||||
| Ability to cultivate land |
|||||||
| Past six Months% |
Past Month % |
Past Six Months% |
Past Month% |
Past Six Months% |
Past Month% |
||
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Impossible |
27.7 |
27.7 |
10.5 |
11.0 |
13.9 |
14.3 |
|
| Very difficult |
4.8 |
4.8 |
13.4 |
11.7 |
11.7 |
10.3 |
|
| Difficult |
1.9 |
0.6 |
12.5 |
14.4 |
10.4 |
11.7 |
|
| Few problems |
10. 4 |
11. 0 |
16. 9 |
15 .9 |
15. 6 |
14 .9 |
|
| No problem at all |
55. 2 |
55. 9 |
46. 7 |
47 .0 |
48. 4 |
48 .8 |
|
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Table 9: The Attitude of Palestinians Toward the Ability for Household Members to Move Around This Week Compared to the Last week by region(September2003)
| Ability for household members to move around this week compared to the last week |
Gaza Strip%
|
West Bank%
|
Palestinian Territory%
|
| Significantly easier this week |
3.1 |
2.8 |
2.9 |
| Somewhat easier this week |
6.7 |
11.1 |
9.6 |
| About the same/ Unchanged |
76. 1 |
61. 6 |
66. 6 |
| Somewhat harder this week |
11. 7 |
19. 3 |
16. 7 |
| Significantly harder this week |
2 .4 |
5. 2 |
4. 2 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Table 10: The Attitude of Palestinians Toward the Ability of Household Members to Move Around Next Month /Next Six Months and Region, (September 2003)
| Region and Time Period |
|||||||
| Gaza Strip |
West Bank |
Palestinian Territory |
|||||
| The ability of household members to move |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
| Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
||
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
| Significantly easier next week |
3. 3 |
1 .1 |
5. 9 |
2 .2 |
5. 0 |
1 .8 |
|
| Somewhat easier next week |
17. 2 |
15.1 |
32. 0 |
30 .4 |
26. 9 |
25 .1 |
|
| About the same/ Unchanged |
58.2 |
64.4 |
35.1 |
44.3 |
43.1 |
51.3 |
|
| Somewhat harder next week |
13. 9 |
15. 3 |
17 .8 |
18. 8 |
16 .4 |
17. 6 |
|
| Significantly harder next week |
7 .4 |
4.1 |
9 .2 |
4. 3 |
8 .6 |
4. 2 |
|
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Table 11: The Attitude of Palestinians Toward the Ability to Find a Job During the Next Month /Next Six Months by Region,(September 2003)
| Region and Time Period |
|||||||
| Gaza Strip |
West Bank |
Palestinian Territory |
|||||
| The Ability find a job |
|||||||
| Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
Next Six Months% |
Next Months% | Next Six Months% |
Next Month% |
||
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Very optimistic /very likely |
6. 5 |
0 .8 |
5. 0 |
1 .5 |
5. 4 |
1 .4 |
|
| Somewhat optimistic/likely |
29. 7 |
30.1 |
41. 3 |
40. 3 |
38. 3 |
37. 7 |
|
| Neither optimistic/nor pessimistic |
24. 3 |
33. 0 |
12. 7 |
20. 2 |
15. 6 |
23. 4 |
|
| Somewhat pessimistic/unlikely |
29. 5 |
20. 9 |
23. 8 |
20. 0 |
25. 2 |
20. 3 |
|
| Very pessimistic /very unlikely |
10. 0 |
15. 2 |
17. 2 |
18. 0 |
15. 5 |
17. 2 |
|
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Table 12: Distribution of Palestinian Households by Region and the Most Important Need for Households (September 2003)
| Most importsnuneed |
Gaza Strip % |
West Bank % |
Palestinian Territory % |
|||
| Second Need |
First Need |
Second Need |
First Need |
Second Need |
First Need |
|
| Food |
18. 6 |
22. 9 |
16. 8 |
28. 0 |
17. 4 |
26. 2 |
| Clothes |
11. 1 |
0 .5 |
7 .0 |
2 .0 |
8 .3 |
1 .5 |
| Education |
12. 6 |
11. 4 |
15. 2 |
13 .6 |
14. 3 |
12. 9 |
| Employment |
13. 9 |
29. 5 |
||||