Global increase in the intermarriage rate
INTERMARRIAGE among Jews is on the up around the world -— with Australia's rates hovering around 25 per cent, according to new research.
CHANTAL ABITBOL
INTERMARRIAGE among Jews is on the up around the world -— with Australia’s rates hovering around 25 per cent, according to new research.
Professor Sergio DellaPergola, an expert on Jewish demographics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has reported a significant hike in assimilation and intermarriage since the 1930s.
At the time, he said, no country had a Jewish community experiencing a marrying-out rate of 35 per cent or higher. But today, the landscape has significantly changed.
Prof DellaPergola, whose findings were recently published in the book Jewish Intermarriage Around the World, reports a large share of world Jewry -— including France, the UK, and the main Latin American countries -— has marrying-out rates between 35-45 per cent.
Meanwhile, the United States has moved well above 50 per cent, and the Russian Federation is above 75 per cent.
Figures for Australia appear to be less drastic. Since the 1930s, Australia has experienced a steady rate of intermarriage of 24-35 per cent. The latest figures, however, indicate that figure is likely closer to 25 per cent.
Israel is virtually alone with an intermarriage rate still below 5 per cent, the academic said.
“Unquestionably, the diffusion of out-marriage across Jewish populations globally and the conflicting attitudes towards its nature and consequences constitute fundamental issues for Jewish policymaking and one of the major challenges world Jewry faces at the beginning of the 21st century,” said Prof DellaPergola.
comments