Kibbutz transformation continues (1/26/2010)

Over the course of 2009, five more kibbutzim converted to the "renewing kibbutz" model (paying its members differential wages) bringing the percentage of such kibbutzim up to 72% of all the kibbutzim in Israel. "It is highly probable that by the end of 2012 the number of kibbutzim shifting to alternative models will be higher than the number of the kibbutzim that did so over 2009," says Dr. Shlomo Getz, Head of the Institute for the Research of the Kibbutz and the Cooperative Idea at the University of Haifa who carried out the survey.

The kibbutzim can be classified by three methods of compensation: The " collective kibbutz" (kibbutz shitufi), where members are compensated equally regardless of what work each member does; the " mixed model kibbutz" (kibbutz meshulav), where each member is given a small percentage of his salary alongside a basic component that is given equally to all members of the kibbutz, and sometimes a seniority factor is added to that; and the "renewing kibbutz" (kibbutz mithadesh) where the member's budget is entirely comprised of his individual income from work and sometimes includes income from other sources as well.

Surveys examining kibbutz compensation models were begun in 1996, when it was observed that four kibbutzim had begun compensating members by the new kibbutz system and another six were using the mixed model budgeting system. In 2002, the collective kibbutzim constituted 50% of all kibbutzim, but from 2004 the differential system took the lead.

By the end of 2009, 188 kibbutzim (72% of all kibbutzim) had become "renewing kibbutzim", while 9 kibbutzim (3%) were " mixed model kibbutzim" and 65 (25%) maintained the original and familiar model, where each member contributes according to his or her ability and is given according to his or her needs. According to Dr. Getz, another 4 kibbutzim shifted over to the new model on the first day of 2010, while 15 more were deliberating the possibility of adopting the differential wages system.

The survey further shows that changes are also occurring in the collective kibbutzim: eighteen of them (28%) use different forms of payment for work that members carry out beyond their regular jobs (such as rotation duty in the dining room or operating kibbutz services on Shabbat), and the members of five of the collective kibbutzim have partial ownership of manufacture property or of their home, while a similar number of kibbutzim are discussing the possibility of adopting such ownership status for their members. The dining room is also shared much less than in the past: at half of the collective kibbutzim members must pay to eat in the central kibbutz dining room.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Haifa

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