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Study: Rise In Singles
Will Cause Problems

ELENA NEUMAN

Special to The Jewish News

dramatic increase in
the number of Ameri-
can Jews remaining
single will impact significant-
ly on the future of the
American Jewish family, ac-
cording to a recent
sociological study by a
Brandeis University research
associate.
After analyzing data from
two dozen Jewish com-
munities across the country,
Sylvia Barack Fishman, a
member of Brandeis' Cohen
Center of Modern Jewish
Studies, has determined that
major sociological changes
have taken place in the
American Jewish family
since 1970, when the last ma-
jor study was performed.
"Only 20 years ago, the pro-
portion of American Jewish
singles — at 6 percent — lagg-
ed far behind the 16 percent
of singles in the general
American population," the
study said. "'May, in many
major metropolitan areas,
between one-third and one-
fifth of the adult Jewish
population is single, ex-
ceeding the national average
of 19 percent," says the study.
"It's not that there are most
Jewish singles than non-
Jewish singles," explained
Fishman in an ' interview.
"Rather, it's because highly
educated Jews tend to con-
gregate in urban areas, where
the singles rate tends to be
higher."
She cited New York, Boston,
Washington, Los Agneles and
Denver as areas with the
highest concentration of
Jewish singles.
The increased number of
Jews remaining unmarried
has implications for many
aspects of the Jewish family
life, particularly childbearing.
The study found that Jews
are losing a generation every
30 years because couples are
having fewer children due to
late marriages, and because
women who are marrying in
their 30s often experience
infertility.
The fertility rate for Jewish
women, the study found, is
1.5 children, as opposed to
average national rate of 2.2.
The increased rate of
Jewish singles coupled with
the decrease in childbearing
is reflected in less Jewish af-
filiation and volunteerism.
Jewish singles often com-
plain of feeling estranged
from Jewish communal and
synagogue life, which has

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traditionally been family-
oriented. Thus, when they
marry late, many of them
never rejoin the organized
Jewish community.
Moreover, recent Jewish
mothers, about two-thirds of
whom are holding paying jobs
with children under 6, are
less likely to engage in
Jewish volunteer work than
Jewish mothers in the past.
"This is a major challenge
that American Jewish
organizations must face," said
Fishman. "They must try to
strengthen Jewish house-
_ holds today and bring
estranged households back
into the community."
In her study, Fishman pro-
poses new and innovative
Jewish communal programm-

Thus, when they
marry late, many
of them never
rejoin the
organized Jewish
community.

ing in the areas of day care,
singles social events, ac-
tivities for teenagers, and
care for the elderly.
However, according to Vicki
Rosenstreich of the Jewish
Board of Family and
Children's Services in New
York, such programs are
already underway.
The Jewish Board has
scores of workshops, lectures
and discussion sessions for
singles, as well as a family
family education program
and numerous services for
children.
"It's a hugh problem," she
says of Jewish singles. "Peo-
ple in general are marrying
later, but Jewish people are
marrying even later. This
work against the communal
interest.
"It becomes a Jewish issue
because whatever may be
adaptive in the general com-
munity, may be maladaptive
in the Jewish community, a
minority community which
already suffers from inter-
marriage."
Bob Leifert, lay chairman of
the Task Force on Jewish
Singles, a branch of the
United Jewish Appeal-
Federation of Jewish Philan-
thropies of New York, agreed.
"There is a communal in-
terest in helping singles," he
said. "Marshall Sklar found
that peple who are not mar-
ried are less likely to affiliate
in the Jewish community.
Thus, we need to have people