Poverty in Arab-Palestinian society in Israel: Social work perspectives before and during COVID-19.

Arab-Palestinian families have one of the highest poverty rates in Israel. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding this population from a social work perspective. This article presents an analysis of 64 supervision sessions held with Arab-Palestinian social workers with the aim of identifying context-specific knowledge on the barriers service users face in their daily lives. Our findings point to three types of barriers: economic, sociopolitical, and cultural/political. The article relates to the intersections of these barriers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental Distress during the Coronavirus Pandemic in Israel: Who Are the Most Vulnerable?

Based on Pearlin's stress process model and the social inequality approach to health, this study used a social lens to explore the role of socioeconomic inequities in mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Specifically, we examined people's pre-pandemic sociodemographic characteristics and economic situation, and the economic effects of the pandemic itself on mental distress. A real-time survey was conducted in May 2020 among 273 adults (ages 20-68), and hierarchical linear models were employed. Findings indicated that groups vulnerable to mental distress in routine times (e.g., women, people with economic difficulties) showed the same pattern during the pandemic. Not only was unemployment related to mental distress, so too was a reduction in work hours. The pandemic's economic effects (e.g., needing to take out loans, having a worsening financial situation) were also associated with increased mental distress. This study is one of very few studies to explore a wide range of socioeconomic factors and their association with mental distress during the current crisis. The findings call for broader interventions to alleviate the economic distress caused by the pandemic to promote mental health, especially for groups that were vulnerable before the crisis and those most affected economically following the pandemic.

COVID-19: A poverty-aware perspective.

Preliminary evidence indicates that Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects people differently along social axes, among which socioeconomic status is key. This study used mixed methods to add data from Israel to this developing body of knowledge. Using closed questions, the study compared 126 people living in poverty with 147 people not living in poverty in terms of their economic and employment status, need for assistance, and mental distress. In addition, in order to better understand the experiences of poverty, open questions regarding the effect of COVID-19 on the participants' lives and their means of coping with the pandemic were employed. The study was conducted in May 2020, just after the first lockdown, through online media and through social workers who personally went to disadvantaged neighborhoods to reach out to participants who are vulnerable to digital illiteracy. The analysis points to major differences between the groups, with people in poverty suffering more in terms of their economic and employment situation and mental distress. In addition, we found that people in poverty needed and received more support. The qualitative analysis indicates the specificities of the severe nature of the intersection of poverty and the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).