Jews now comprise about four percent of the population of metropolitan Detroit, but young Jewish couples are having fewer children per family than any other major racial-religious group in this area, according to the University of Michigan’s Detroit Area Study, it was reported in “The Jewish News” here. The study also noted that the Jewish population was older than the Catholic and Protestant groups and attends religious services far less frequently than do non-Jews in the area.
Other facts revealed by the University’s study showed that nearly three-fourths of Detroit’s Jews are employed in “white collar jobs”-a proportion nearly twice as high as that of non-Jews; that nearly one-half are self-employed, compared to less than 10 percent of heads of non-Jewish households; and that one-third had an annual income of at least $10,000 or more–as compared to less than eight percent of non-Jews.
Two University of Michigan experts–sociologists David Goldberg and Harry Sharp–commenting on the findings, cautioned that the small proportion of Jews included in the study made exact analysis and comparison of the material difficult. They added, however that “the average size of the Jewish family does not appear sufficient for family replacement.”
For purposes of the study, Jews were defined as those describing themselves as Jewish in response to the question: “What is your religious preference?” Because of the small number of persons found in this category under the survey’s random sampling techniques, the analysis was based on material collected in separate studies made in 1952, 1954 and 1955.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
