More than one-third of a billion dollars was spent during 1963 to operate Jewish health, family welfare, child care, and services to aged in the United States and Canada, it was revealed in a report published today by the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.
Of this vast sum, direct payments for these services accounted for 69.5 percent of all income received by 207 reporting agencies. Jewish federations and welfare funds supplied 6,5 percent–or $21, 795, 000–to help maintain and expand these institutional services.
The remainder of the institutional income came from a variety of sources, including 5.3 percent from membership dues and contributions; 2.4 percent from public tax funds, and 4.2 percent from investments and other sources. These proportions varied greatly among the different fields of service.
The report disclosed that 1963 was marked by three continuing developments: A moderate overall increase in the volume of service; greater specialization and coordination of services within the community; and increases in public tax funds allocated to help maintain some categories of service.
Operating budgets of homes for the aged were shown in the report to have increased substantially from 1960 to 1963, going up in some instances from 20 percent to 30 percent. In the health field, 67 reporting hospitals showed they served 571,452 patients, providing 6,386, 836 days of care. Operating costs for child care agencies, which have increased various specialized services, jumped 20 percent in the period from 1960 to 1963. Eighty-six Jewish family service agencies reported a six percent increase in volume.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
