IDF - Lone soldiers - Some selected data

The IDF provides the lone soldiers with certain benefits throughout their military service, yet there is a lot to be done.
About 5,400 of the soldiers currently serving in the IDF have been granted the status of lone soldiers.
50% of them come from families who do not live in Israel, and the other 50% are Israelis who are unable to live with their families due to a variety of reasons.
Roughly half of all the lone soldiers serve in combat units.

Housing:
Lone soldiers can choose from a number of housing options during their military service.
At present, about 450 soldiers share rooms situated in kibbutzim throughout the country.
About 800 soldiers live in 146 apartments located in different parts of Israel which are poorly furnished and are supposed to be maintained by the Organization for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers.
About 2,000 soldiers rent apartments independently and the army subsidizes a part of the rent.
While waiting for a permanent housing solution, lone soldiers are referred to 6 Soldiers’ Homes located around the country (Jerusalem, Tiberias, Beer-Sheva, Eilat, Kiryat Shemona, and the Tank Corps House in Tel Aviv) or to the Avia Hotel in Yehud.
Soldiers continue to reside at one of the Soldiers’ Homes for an extended period of time if, for a variety of reasons, a housing solution cannot be found for them.
Most of the Soldiers’ Houses offer inadequate living conditions, and for the most pert are not pleasant to live in.
As opposed to soldiers who go home to their families when they have leave, where a warm and loving mother awaits them with a hearty meal and does their laundry, alongside other family members who are attentive and supportive lone soldiers return to an apartment with an empty refrigerator, there is no mother to wash and iron their uniform, there is no home cooked meal on the table and, above all, there is no one there to listen to them. These soldiers must take care of their needs on their own. Soldiers who rent apartments find it hard to make ends meet, even though their army salary is higher than the average and they receive special leaves so they can work and earn some money.