British Jews are living in fewer geographic areas in more insular communities, according to a new report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research which describes “significant demographic shifts” between 2001 and 2011, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
Using data gathered in the British census, shows that communities in Barnet, Hackney, Salford, Bury and Hertsmere are growing while those in Leeds, Brighton, Glasgow and Redbridge are shrinking, the Chronicle reported.
The results show “a voluntary return to the ghettos,” JPR executive director Jonathan Boyd told the Chronicle. The 10 largest Jewish areas account for 44 percent of British Jewry, up from 33 percent a decade ago.
Boyd attributed the shifts to the booming haredi birthrate, to assimilation and intermarriage and to the tendency for observant Jewish communities to gravitate to certain locations, the Chronicle said.
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