The rate of natural increase of Jews in the United States lags behind the general population and American-born Jews tend to have smaller families than Jewish immigrants or other native Americans, it was revealed here today in a study by Dr. Nathan Goldberg, just published by the American Jewish Congress.
The study, “Population Trends Among American Jew,” attributes this situation to anti-Semitism, desire for security, intermarriage, concentration of Jews in urban centers and the general emancipation of women. Dr. Goldberg, a member of the faculty of Yeshiva College, says that discrimination tends to inhibit the size of the Jewish family because Jews are forced to work harder to overcome economic and social obstacles placed in their path by anti-Semites and frequently are faced with the choice of a greater degree of security and a smaller family or economic insecurity and children.
The study reveals that in several Connecticut cities the rate of intermarriage has risen from slightly above one percent at the turn of the century to over six and seven percent at present. The tendency to intermarry is greatest among Jewish, college youth, the study adds. Dr. Goldberg traces the Jewish population growth in this country from 6,000 in 1826 to 50,000 in 1814, 230,000 in 1877, to over 5,000,000 in 1947.
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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.
