In most Western jurisdictions, welfare law utilises means testing to determine whether individuals are eligible for welfare allowances, often using property ownership as one of the eligibility criteria. Crucially, the prevailing conception of property ownership is premised on the notion that property rights are applied equally to all owners in matters relating to the control and management of that property. When this assumption proves not to reflect reality, it can have devastating consequences for those most in need of the support ostensibly provided by welfare law. The present qualitative empirical study examines two cases in which such adverse consequences are felt: in the two largest minority communities in Israel—the Palestinians and the Ultraorthodox Jews (Charedi). The findings show that property ownership in these communities is realised hierarchically, along patriarchal lines, and that family members occupy and manage property in accordance with community customs and traditional norms, often far removed from state laws. Beyond theoretical debates or ethnographic observations, the discrepancies between the state’s ideas of ownership and those recognised by members of the Palestinian and Charedi communities in Israel often result in the denial of financial aid to those who need it most. This article will identify such differences in conception and will describe how they provide an additional explanation for the high levels of poverty in minority communities. Finally, it will examine two private law doctrines that can be used as inspiration to better interpret welfare law and make it more nuanced and culturally sensitive, especially when it encounters people in poverty and marginalised groups.

中文翻译：

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在福利中分拆财产

在大多数西方司法管辖区，福利法利用经济状况调查来确定个人是否有资格获得福利津贴，通常将财产所有权作为资格标准之一。至关重要的是，财产所有权的普遍概念是基于这样一种观念，即在与财产的控制和管理有关的事项上，财产权平等地适用于所有所有者。当这种假设被证明不能反映现实时，它可能会对那些最需要福利法表面上提供的支持的人产生毁灭性的后果。本定性实证研究考察了两个可以感受到此类不利后果的案例：以色列两个最大的少数民族社区——巴勒斯坦人和极端正统犹太人 (Charedi)。调查结果表明，这些社区的财产所有权是按照父权制按等级实现的，家庭成员根据社区习俗和传统规范占有和管理财产，通常与国家法律相去甚远。除了理论辩论或民族志观察之外，国家所有权观念与以色列巴勒斯坦和查雷迪社区成员所认可的观念之间的差异常常导致拒绝向最需要的人提供财政援助。本文将确定这些概念上的差异，并描述它们如何为少数民族社区的高度贫困提供额外的解释。最后，