The world Jewish population is dropping below the point of Zero Population Growth and is beginning a numerical decline that will accelerate in years to come, according to a study by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee/Brook-dale Institute of Gerontology and the Hebrew University Institute of Contemporary Jewry.
The study notes that despite the decrease in total Jewish population there will be an increase in number of Jewish elderly, particularly among the “old-old,” people over age 75, and particularly in Israel, where the number in this category is expected to jump 150% in the quarter century between 1975 and the year 2000.
JDC president Henry Taub called the report ” a significant study with implications that demand the immediate attention of those concerned with the viability of the Jewish community.” JDC executive vice president Ralph Goldman described the report as offering “a major world-wide challenge which, in Israel, will reach crisis proportions.”
While the study. “Elderly Jews in the World,” which was written by Professor U.O. Schmelz, predicts a drop in the number of Jews in the diaspora from 9.6 million to 8 million in less than 20 years-the study also predicts a sharp rise in the number of elderly, particularly among the “old-old” whose numbers will reach an estimated 910,000 by the year 2000. Nearly 190,000 of these are expected to be living in Israel.
One consequence of the shifting demographics noted in the study is the fact that by the end of the century one out of every five elderly will live in Israel, as compared with one out of eight today.
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.
