מעבר למספרים: כיצד פערים כלכליים בין רשויות משפעים על מערך שירותי הרווחה

Background: In recent decades, studies have highlighted significant disparities in welfare budgets across local municipalities in Israel. However, little is known about how these disparities affect the daily operations of social service departments. Aims: To explore how local economic conditions influence the functioning of welfare departments and identify institutional mechanisms that translate fiscal disparities into service delivery gaps, from the perspective of department heads. Methods: A qualitative study, adopting a multiple case design, was conducted based on 12 in-depth interviews with heads of social welfare departments in Jewish municipalities from various socioeconomic clusters. A comparative analysis examined patterns across cases. Findings: Three key domains through which disparities are expressed were identified: workforce capacity, target populations, and service scope. Structural advantages of municipalities in higher socioeconomic clusters include the ability to add staff, offer competitive employment conditions, expand services to diverse populations, and develop a broad range of programs. Economically weaker municipalities face challenges in staff recruitment and retention, must narrow their target groups, and encounter institutional barriers in developing new services. Institutional mechanisms such as matching requirements, fiscal balancing rules, and reimbursement-based funding reinforce these disparities. Conclusions and implications for policy: Service gaps are shaped not only by differences in available resources, but also by institutional arrangements that unequally structure municipalities’ capacity for action. Addressing inequality requires both enhanced resource allocation to disadvantaged municipalities and institutional reforms, such as eliminating advance funding requirements and introducing targeted tools for recruiting and retaining staff.