Published: 31 October 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Aware of the necessity to approach any human and public database with grains of salt, Graham tackles criticism surrounding the validity of the 2016 census due to methodological problems and deals with both enumerated (directly taken from the census) and adjusted (recalculated) data.
The result is an impressively detailed and comprehensive investigation, topped up with interesting comparisons to the general Australian public and to past findings. Easy to understand with pleasantly designed data in tables and colourful graphs, the report is a valuable tool for policy makers and researchers.
What can be deduced from this fascinating report on the Australian Jewish population at large onto the more confined realm of the Jewish community in this country?
Health: Vibrant and strong with early symptoms of future problems
As of today, the Australia Jewish community is vibrant and robust. Its strength is reflected in several key indicators which stand out when compared to the wider Australian population. For example, with regards to higher education qualifications, the percentage of Jews is twice or higher than other Australians in every age bracket.
Some 82 per cent of Jews aged 15 and above have completed at least Year 12, as opposed to only 57 per cent of all Australians.
Jews are well integrated into the job market with similar levels of employment compared to all Australians, and twice outperform the rest of the population with 32 per cent defined as “‘owner managers”.
Income-wise, a higher percentage of Jews populate the top brackets of the earning scale, from $65,000 a year and above of personal income. They are four times more likely to earn $156,000 a year than all other Australians (12 per cent Vs 3 per cent respectively).
Yet there are increasing early indications for a future weakening of the Jewish community. This is especially noticeable in the demographic sense. Growth in the total number of Jewish residents in Australia, estimated at 117,000 in 2016, came to a halt, recording only a 1 per cent increase between 2011 and 2016, as opposed to a 6 per cent jump in the previous five-year period.
Immigration, mostly from Israel (Hebrew is now the most spoken non-English Jewish language in Australia), was the main engine for Jewish population increase since the beginning of the century. But influx of newcomers has slowed down dramatically, by 30 per cent.
Further contributing to the freeze in the number of Australian Jews is the general surge in the number of Australians – Jews and others - declaring themselves as with no religion. The report reveals that this phenomenon is, unsurprisingly, much more common among Jewish youngsters up to their thirties.
The subsiding of immigration also led to a rapid aging of Australian Jews in a rate higher than for all Australians (which are also aging). Median age of Jews rose to 44 years, two years older than five years ago, and much higher than 38 years for Australians generally in 2016. The proportion of Jews aged 60-69 skyrocketed by a whopping 70 per cent since 2006, while the number of babies born remain frozen, around the 1,300 mark.
Policy makers need to consider the implications of older aged Jews on health services, social support and the fabric and vibrancy of a Jewish community with less youngsters and more older people.
In-Out: Shifting boundaries and changing colours
Intermarriage – choosing a non-Jew to be your spouse – is often considered as diminishing the Jewish people. In 2016, 17 per cent of Jews were coupled with a person who defined him/herself as with “no religion” or has not stated his religion, while 15 per cent have spouses from other religions.
Examining the almost 50,000 couples in the Jewish population of Australia, Graham indicates that the rate of intermarriage has not changed significantly over a period of the 15 years (2001-16) and remained approximately 14 per cent for non-married couples, and around 23 per cent for married couples.
At the same time, the rate of partners to Jews who define themselves as with no religion has doubled to more than 11 per cent for non-married couples and over 18 per cent for married couples.
But is this relatively new type of relationship – Jews with a ‘no religion’ person - is it indeed ‘intermarriage’? Does it essentially lead to a gradual process of departure out of the ’members only’ Jewish club? Looking at the stated religion of children in Jewish families by their parents, 2016 census data offers a partial response to the question.
When both parents are Jews, in almost all cases they would categorise their youngest child as a Jew. When the mother was Jewish and the father with no religion, only half of the youngest children were designated as Jewish by the parents (a much lower rate of 16 per cent was recorded when the father was Jewish).
Finally, 426 couples Jewish couples surveyed in the 2016 census were same-sex ones – 1.3 per cent of the Jewish population, and higher than the equivalent data for the whole Australian population (0.9 per cent). It can be assumed that most Jews in Australian now consider this family structure - now legally mainstream Australian –a legitimate and integral part of the Jewish community.
Expanding on Benedict Anderson’s famous catchphrase about “imagined communities”, communities are an abstract, socially constructed by its individual members who believe they are all part of the same group.
David Graham’s report teaches us that the next chapters in the annals of the Australian Jewish community will be different than previous ones. They would be telling the story of a thriving, colourful and diverse community with regards to its personal definitions. However, without population growth, will this community be able to maintain its strength? Time will tell.
Photo: Courtesy Sydney Jewish Museum
