In Israel, birth rates are converging between Jews and Muslims
Religious Jews there have bucked the trend of falling fertility elsewhere
“If an israeli woman has fewer than three children, she feels as if she owes everyone an explanation—or an apology.” That, at any rate, is the view of a leading Israeli demographer. When she visits London she is struck by its dearth of toy shops. Israelis have many more children than their counterparts elsewhere in the rich world. Whereas the average Israeli woman has 2.9, her British and French peers have 1.6 and 1.8 respectively.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Go forth and multiply”
From the August 20th 2022 edition
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