Explaining Fertility Differentials in the Contemporary Jewish Population

Dawn S. Hurst, Ohio State University
Frank Mott, Ohio State University

Explaining Fertility Differentials in the Contemporary Jewish Population Dawn S. Hurst and Frank L. Mott Center For Human Resource Research The Ohio State University September 2002 The availability of newly released data on the American Jewish population for 2000 and 2001 offers a unique opportunity for researchers to examine a myriad of theoretical issues integral to understanding the disparate fertility processes among minority populations. Preliminary findings indicate that contemporary Jewish women of childbearing age are having children at historically low levels, resulting in fertility levels well below replacement. Increasing age at first marriage and extraordinarily high levels of educational attainment among Jewish women, when compared to all American women of childbearing age, account for a significant portion of this recent trend. However, to attribute these changes entirely to higher education and subsequent delayed marriage is an extreme oversimplification. The American Jewish population is remarkably diverse, with high rates of inter-marriage particularly among less conservative denominations at one end of the spectrum, and allegiance to the religion’s more traditional beliefs and practices at the other. Issues of social class, economics, religious attachment, and ethnicity (as evidenced by significant proportions of first, second and third generation immigrants in the U.S.) are all important contributors to a variegated sub-population profile. In this research we seek to clarify the extent to which these and other factors of historical and theoretical relevance may impact the overall Jewish marriage and fertility profile. Drawing upon the recent work of Axinn and Yabiku (2001) we employ a social organization of the family framework to disentangle the impact of competing familial and non-familial institutions on the fertility behaviors of Jewish American women. Use of this theoretical framework allows us to examine the influence of potential antecedents to fertility decline. First, we consider microeconomic theories of family structure by taking into account the potential costs and benefits of childrearing (Becker 1991, Coleman 1990; Easterlin & Crimmins 1985). We do this by examining the extent to which Jewish women are involved in activities outside the home (i.e. education, employment, volunteer-work, religious groups, etc.) that may interrupt or delay the family formation process. Next, we investigate how the diffusion and dissemination of norms and ideals through increased inter-group social interaction impacts childbearing behaviors (Anderson 1986; Knodel 1987; Caldwell 1982). In particular, we examine the effect of having predominantly Jewish social networks, dating only (or mostly) Jewish men, and/or choosing to marry someone who is Jewish. Despite the cross-sectional nature of this dataset, retrospective questions allow us to determine whether the relevance of these inter-group interactions is time variant. Thus, we clarify the relative importance of social ties developed during childhood versus those relied upon in later life. We use data from the soon-to-be released 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS2000). These data were compiled through lengthy telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 4147 respondents who are connected with the American Jewish population. The interviews were completed between August 2000 and August 2001. Approximately half the respondents in this sample are female, of which 47 percent are in their childbearing years (between the ages of 18 and 49). In addition to answering a series of questions on past, current, and prospective fertility behaviors, these women also responded to questions regarding employment status, educational attainment, family background, current family structure, religious/ethnic origins, and a multitude of contemporary attitudes and practices pertinent to Judaism. Through consideration of this extensive battery of background information, we will strive to disentangle some of the causal processes linked to current family formation/creation behaviors. To do so, we will consider childhood, adolescent, and young adult educational experiences; religious connections both within the home and amidst peer networks; and levels of ethnic and denominational identification. This depth of information allows us to explore the potential independent significance of social, economic, and family priors as predictors of contemporary fertility for a minority sub-population to a greater degree than is usually possible. References Anderson, Barbara A. 1986. “Regional and Cultural Factors in the Decline of Marital Fertility.” Pp. 293-313 in The Decline of Fertility in Europe, edited by Ansley J. Coale and Susan Cotts Watkins. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Axinn, William G. and Scott T. Yabiku. 2001. “Social Change, the Social Organization of Families, and Fertility Limitation.” American Journal of Sociology 5: 1219-1261. Becker, Gary. 1991. A Treatise on the Family. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Caldwell, John C. 1982. Theory of Fertility Decline. New York: Academic Press. Coleman, James. 1990. Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press. Easterlin, Richard A., and Eileen M. Crimmins. 1985. The Fertility Revolution: A Supply-Demand Analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Knodel, John. 1987. “Starting, Stopping, and Spacing During the Early Stages of Fertility Transition: The Experience of German Village Populations in the 18th and 19th Centuries.” Demography 24:143-162.