The Changing Conventional Jewish Family

Sergio DellaPergola*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

In the context of population studies, marriage can be generally viewed as the resultant of three major groups of determinants: sociocultural, or the desirability of marriage; socioeconomic, or the feasibility of marriage; and demographic, or the availability of marriage partners. Abundant evidence available on marriage patterns of Jews in the past points to a number of singular traits in comparison to other population groups. The normative centrality of the family in traditional Jewish culture generally produced a greater marriage propensity among the Jews than among other ethnoreligious groups. The peculiar occupational stratification of Jewish communities produced different responses of marriage frequencies among Jews and non-Jews as affected by general socioeconomic change. The relatively small size and segmented structure of the pool of potential marriage candidates tended to reduce marriage frequencies among the Jews. Legal limitations imposed upon the Jews in certain countries before emancipation constituted a further factor of attrition to past Jewish nuptiality. This chapter, largely based on NJPS data, discusses the main marriage and family trends of Jews in the US and their long-term consequences for population size and structure.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationStudies of Jews in Society
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages155-176
Number of pages22
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024

Publication series

NameStudies of Jews in Society
Volume7
ISSN (Print)2524-4302
ISSN (Electronic)2524-4310

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Keywords

  • Age at marriage
  • Availability of marriage partners
  • Choice of spouse
  • Conventional and alternative Jewish families
  • Desirability of marriage
  • Divorce and remarriage
  • Feasibility of marriage
  • Marriage and non-marriage

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