AJC Study: Young Jewish Adults to Reshape U.S. Jewry

April 27, 2006 -- New York – The percentage of younger American Jews identifying as Orthodox is on the rise. Additionally, non-Orthodox Jews, ages 18 to 39, who marry Jews and have children are highly likely to be Jewishly engaged. These are some of the conclusions of a pioneering American Jewish Committee study, which paints a complex portrait of the 1.5 million younger Jews, ages 18 to 39, who comprise 29 percent of the U.S. Jewish population and likely will reshape the characteristics of the American Jewish community.

“Understanding the Jewish community of tomorrow is imperative if present-day Jewish organizations are to remain relevant,” said Ambassador Alfred Moses, Chair of AJC’s Centennial Committee.

The AJC study, Young Jewish Adults in the United States Today: Harbingers of the American Jewish Community of Tomorrow, was conducted for AJC by Jack Ukeles, Ron Miller and Pearl Beck of Ukeles Associates, Inc. It divides the 1.5 million young Jews into four subgroups that vary dramatically in their patterns of Jewish involvement.

* 11 percent are Orthodox
* 13 percent are non-Orthodox, in-married couples with children
* 56 percent are non-Orthodox singles and married couples without children
* 20 percent are intermarried couples, with and without children

“Young Jewish adults are likely to be somewhat less Jewishly identified than older American Jews,” said Jack Ukeles, president of Ukeles Associates. “But much more striking is the extent to which younger Jews are expressing their Jewishness in ways that are quite different from the ways of connecting of their predecessors, and thus are less involved with Jewish institutions that are part of the traditional communal structure."

The AJC study looks at different ways young Jewish adults are connected to Judaism and to the Jewish community including their religious practices, Jewish cultural activities, observing holidays, links to Jewish organizations, raising children Jewish and attachment to Israel.

“Younger Orthodox adults are likely to play increasingly important roles in organized Jewish life given their commitments, numbers, and fertility patterns,” said Steven Bayme, AJC’s Director of Contemporary Jewish Life. The percent of young Jewish adults between the ages of 18 and 29 who are Orthodox – 16 percent – is nearly double the percentage of Orthodox among Jews ages 30-39. While Orthodox Jews are more likely to be married by age 30, more than 50 percent of all American Jews under the age of 40 are not yet married, and this has implications for fertility and population growth. Further, approximately 50 percent of Jewish women are childless until the ages of 35-39.

“These patterns suggest that with a static population a higher percentage of future Jewish communal leaders are likely to be Orthodox, Jewish day school attendance among the Orthodox will continue to grow and the community as a whole could be more politically conservative,” said Moses. American Jews comprise only two percent of the national population, and are thus affected by broader cultural and social influences from outside the Jewish community, he said.

The study also found that “the Holocaust continues to be profoundly important to a broad spectrum of young Jews, yet Israel appears to be much less important in positively affecting Jewish identity, except for those, like Birthright Israel participants who have actually traveled to Israel, or Orthodox young adults who have strong attachments to Israel,” states the report.

“The core of future Jewish identity cannot be based primarily upon memories of past persecution,” noted Moses. “We need to put mourning for past tragedies in historical context and get on with creating pride in our Jewish heritage and building a Jewish future that has meaning.”

The AJC study is based largely on current knowledge about the 1.5 million Jewish adults, ages 18 to 39, in the U.S. who are likely to have a profound impact on the future of Judaism and Jewish life in America. Ukeles Associates summarized existing knowledge by assessing and comparing data from a series of Jewish community studies completed by Ukeles Associates, Inc., the National Jewish Population Survey of 2000-01, and AJC national surveys of American Jewish opinion since 2000