Over 25% of Palestinian households live below $609 per month

Ma'an – The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics re-issued its poverty-line statistics, for the first time since 1997, saying that poverty was lower than previously believed, and now hovers at 25.7 percent of the population.

In the West Bank, 18.3 percent of Palestinians live below the poverty line, and in Gaza, that number rises sharply to 38 percent.

The poverty line was set at 2,237 shekels ($609) per month for a household of two adults and three children, taking into account the costs of health care, education, transportation, personal care, and housekeeping supplies. A "deep poverty" line was set at 1,783 shekels ($478) per month for a household of two adults and three children, taking only into account a budget for food, clothing and housing.

PCBS found 14.1 percent of Palestinians were living in deep poverty, with 8.8 percent in the West Bank and 23 percent in Gaza.

The survey found that Social Assistance for households reduced poverty among individuals by 16.8 percent in 2010, 10.7 percent in West Bank and 21.2 percent in Gaza.