Integration into work of unemployed new immigrant women from single parent families

In recent years, Israel has absorbed hundreds of thousands of people from the former USSR. For most of them the migration constituted a situation of weighty pressure arising from the changes and shocks encountered in all areas of life: on the emotional, family, social and employment levels. One of the most prominent among the new immigrants is the single-parent segment, which constitutes 13.6% (17 750 single-parent family units) of the immigrant population, headed in the great majority of cases by mothers. The employment situation is particularly severe in the segment, owing to their special family circumstances, which make it difficult for them to find suitable employment. The economic implications of this state of affairs are grave and frequently lead to poverty. This article describes a project for the integration into work of unemployed female immigrants by means of two parallel programmes: (1) workshop for job-seeking skills; (2) establishment and operation of a self-help group. Both of these programmes are backed by a social support network that took shape during the course of the project. The components of the programmes are described and the findings consequent to their operation are presented.