How Many Adults With Disabilities Is Israel’s Welfare Ministry Meant to Serve?
The State Comptroller counted about 44,500 adults aged 18 to 40 eligible for Ministry of Welfare services in its July 2024 audit.
About 44,500 adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40 were eligible to receive Ministry of Welfare services, on the State Comptroller of Israel’s audit of that ministry published in July 2024. The State Comptroller reported that about 41,000 of them, 94%, did not systematically receive the service the audit examined. The 44,500 is a count of eligibility under the Ministry of Welfare’s own criteria for its own services, bounded at ages 18 to 40, rather than a count of adults receiving them. The audit also records about NIS 2 billion in additional budget allocated by the government to implement the law.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| About 44,500 | Adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40 eligible for Ministry of Welfare services, on the Ministry’s own eligibility criteria | Audit published July 2024 |
| About 41,000, 94% | Eligible adults who did not systematically receive the service the audit examined | Audit published July 2024 |
| About 3,200 | Special education graduates reaching welfare services a year or more after graduation, about half of those who reach them in adulthood | Audit published July 2024 |
| About 2,400, about 6% | Graduates who took part in the joint adult-life preparation programmes | Audit published July 2024 |
| About 530, about 20% | Eligible and unserved graduates with intellectual developmental disability | Audit published July 2024 |
| About 820, about 32% | Eligible and unserved people with autism | Audit published July 2024 |
| About NIS 2 billion | Additional budget allocated by the government to implement the law | Audit published July 2024 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, audit of the Ministry of Welfare’s treatment of adults with disabilities, published English abstract, July 2024.
The Comptroller counts about 44,500 adults eligible for Ministry services
The State Comptroller counted about 44,500 adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40 who are eligible to receive services from the Ministry of Welfare, a count drawn from the Ministry’s own eligibility recognition for its own service frameworks. The audit’s subject is the transition from special education into adult life and the shift toward housing in the community. It carries the “about” in front of the figure, and the approximation stays.
What the audit sets around that figure:
- An age band of 18 to 40, which is the population the audit examines.
- Ministry of Welfare services only, not services provided by any other Israeli body.
- About NIS 2 billion in additional government budget allocated to implement the law.
The 44,500 is an eligibility count, not a count of adults served
Eligibility and receipt are two different quantities in this audit, and the State Comptroller published both. The 44,500 is the number recognised as eligible to receive Ministry of Welfare services under the Ministry’s own criteria; the audit reports separately how many of them received the service it examined.
- What the 44,500 counts: adults aged 18 to 40 recognised as eligible for Ministry of Welfare services.
- What it does not count: adults over 40, adults under 18, recipients of any allowance, or the whole population of adults with disabilities in Israel.
About 41,000 people, 94%, did not systematically receive the service
The State Comptroller found that 94%, about 41,000 people, did not systematically receive the service the audit examined, against the roughly 44,500 recognised as eligible for Ministry of Welfare provision. The audit also reports a share on access to information, taken from its own survey of respondents rather than from Ministry records.
| Finding | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 94%, about 41,000 people | Eligible adults not systematically receiving the service examined | Audit published July 2024 |
| About 20% | Survey respondents who indicated they could access a designated website or representative | Audit published July 2024 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, July 2024, on Ministry of Welfare data and the audit’s own survey of respondents.
About 3,200 graduates reach services a year or more after school
The State Comptroller reported that about half of special education graduates who reach welfare services in adulthood, about 3,200 people, receive them only a year or more after graduation. Only about 6% of graduates, about 2,400 people, took part in the adult-life preparation programmes run jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Welfare, on those two ministries’ own participation data as relayed in the audit. Among those recognised as eligible and not receiving services, the audit puts about 20%, about 530 people, as special education graduates with intellectual developmental disability and about 32%, about 820 people, as people with autism.
No count of adults over 40, or of allowance recipients, appears here
The State Comptroller’s July 2024 audit is bounded at ages 18 to 40 and covers services provided by the Ministry of Welfare, on that ministry’s own recognition of eligibility. Outside those bounds, the Israeli official material used on this page carries no figure, and the absence is recorded rather than filled.
- No National Insurance Institute allowance or pension caseload count.
- No total number of people with disabilities living in Israel.
- No count of adults with disabilities aged over 40.
- No count of places in community housing frameworks.
Which figures in this audit may not be added together?
The figures here come from one document, the State Comptroller’s published English abstract of July 2024, and they sit on different denominators. The 44,500 is adults aged 18 to 40 recognised as eligible for Ministry of Welfare services. The 20% and 32% are shares of the group recognised as eligible and not receiving services, a group the abstract does not size precisely, so each travels with its own count and neither may be restated as a share of the 44,500. The 6% and its 2,400 belong to the graduate population, not to the 44,500. Every figure carries “about” as the Comptroller prints it, and no share here should be recomputed from the rounded counts.
Questions readers ask
How many adults with disabilities are eligible for Ministry of Welfare services?
The State Comptroller counted about 44,500 adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40 eligible to receive Ministry of Welfare services, in its audit published in July 2024.
Does that figure include adults over 40?
No. The State Comptroller bounded the audit at ages 18 to 40, and it publishes no count for adults with disabilities above that age.
How many of the eligible adults did not receive the service?
The State Comptroller reported that 94%, about 41,000 people, did not systematically receive the service the audit examined.
Is 44,500 the number of adults Israel serves?
It is an eligibility count under the Ministry of Welfare’s own criteria for its own services. The State Comptroller published the receipt figures separately.
How much extra budget was allocated?
The State Comptroller records about NIS 2 billion in additional budget allocated by the government to implement the law.
How long do special education graduates wait to reach welfare services?
The State Comptroller found that about half of those who reach welfare services in adulthood, about 3,200 people, receive them only a year or more after graduation.
How many graduates joined adult-life preparation programmes?
The State Comptroller put participation at about 6% of special education graduates, about 2,400 people.
Which bodies run those preparation programmes?
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Welfare run them jointly, on the description in the State Comptroller’s July 2024 audit.
What does the audit publish on community housing costs?
The State Comptroller reported the Ministry of Welfare’s own cost data, an average of about NIS 1,700 a month for community housing services against about NIS 13,000 for the alternative the Ministry compares it with. It is a cost comparison only.
Who are the eligible adults not receiving services?
The State Comptroller reported that about 20%, about 530 people, are special education graduates with intellectual developmental disability, and about 32%, about 820 people, have autism.
Does the audit give a total for people with disabilities in Israel?
No. The State Comptroller’s figures here cover adults aged 18 to 40 eligible for Ministry of Welfare services, and no national disability total appears in it.
Is the audit published in English?
The State Comptroller published a 14-page English abstract of the chapter, and the figures on this page are read from that abstract rather than from the full Hebrew chapter.
Sources
- Ministry of Education, 2024. Joint adult-life preparation programmes for special education graduates. Participation figures as relayed in the State Comptroller’s July 2024 audit. Official record.
- Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, 2024. Eligibility recognition and community housing cost data for adults with disabilities aged 18 to 40, as relayed in the State Comptroller’s July 2024 audit. Official record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2024. The Ministry of Welfare’s Treatment of Adults with Disabilities. Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, July 2024, published English abstract, 16 pages. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official and primary record.
