Ultra-Orthodox Will Be Majority of British Community in 15 Years
Image by Getty Images
Haredi Orthodox Jews will soon account for half of the British Jewish population, according to a study of the United Kingdom’s Jewish community.
Accelerating birth rates among the strictly observant religious Jewish communities mean they are expected “to constitute a majority of the British Jewish population before the 21st century is over,” a report from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research says, The Independent reported Thursday.
If high haredi birth rates continue, half of all Jewish children and around 30 percent of young Jewish adults living in the United Kingdom will be haredi by 2031, the report, which was published Thursday, says.
The report says Orthodox Jewish leaders should take note of the population boom. “The demographic dynamic of this community is conducive to the outbreak of social unrest,” it states, warning of an urgent need for job opportunities. Without these, “the probability [is] that youth will engage in antisocial activities, experience high levels of disillusionment, or abandon the strictly Orthodox lifestyle altogether.”
The report’s authors, Daniel Staetsky and Jonathan Boyd, warn that the haredi community should incorporate “sound employment and professional training opportunities” into the strictly Orthodox lifestyle “for its very preservation”.
The Orthodox charity Interlink Foundation said the report was flawed and understated the size of the haredi community, according to a report in The Jewish Chronicle. Its findings confirm that while mainstream Judaism in Britain is in decline, the haredi community is expanding.
Using 2011 census data and other surveys, the report’s authors say the Orthodox community is increasing by nearly 5 percent a year while the wider, non-haredi Jewish population is decreasing by 0.3 percent. Haredi birth rates are six to seven children per couple, more than three times the average UK national rate.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
