Below are the slides from the powerpoint presentation that accompanies the National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000-01. These slides offer graphical representations of some of the data in the survey. The slides are broken down into four categories and an introduction. Clicking on any link will open up a new window in your browser. (Some Internet Explorer users may need to click on the icon in the lower right hand corner to enlarge the images.)

Introduction

• National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01
• Introduction
• Methodology
• Methodology: Who is a Jew?

I. Demography

• The Demography of American Jews
• Demography: Jewish population and household estimates in 2000-01
• Jews and non-Jews in Jewish households
• Jewish households are marked by great diversity in composition
• The Jewish population is older than the U.S. population
• Most American Jews are currently married and a quarter have never been married
• In every age group up to 65, proportionally fewer Jews than all Americans have ever been married.
• For all age groups through 44, Jewish women have given birth to fewer children than U.S. women, but the gap among 40-44 year olds is small.
• Proportionally more Jewish women than all U.S. women remain childless in every age group through 44.
• The United States is divided into four regions.
• The Jewish population is concentrated in the Northeast, with 41% of Jewish adults, 50% of Jewish children and 39% of Jewish households in the region.
• More than one-third of Jews lived in a different residence five years ago.
• Jews have higher educational achievement than Americans generally.
• Most Jews are employed and about a fifth are retired.
• Proportionally more Jews have high status occupations than do all Americans.
• Jews have higher household incomes than Americans generally, but many Jews have low household incomes.
  

II. Jewish Connections

• Jewish Connections
• Most American Jews observe a number of important Jewish holidays and rituals.
• Moderate proportions of Jews engage in a variety of Jewish behaviors.
• Minorities of American Jews engage in these religious activities.
• Forty percent of American Jewish households belong to synagogues.* 
• Proportionally more Jews in the Northeast observe rituals than Jews in the other regions.
• Many indicators of Jewish engagement remain steady across three crucial age groups 35-64.
• Other indicators of Jewish connection show older Jews are more engaged than younger Jews.
• The Jewish population is divided into three segments according to membership in synagogues, JCCs and other Jewish organizations.*
• Highly and moderately affiliated Jews are more engaged in other areas of Jewish life than unaffiliated Jews.*
• American Jews have multiple connections to Israel.
• Affiliated Jews have stronger connections to Israel than unaffiliated Jews.*
• More American Jews give to non-Jewish causes than to Jewish causes.
• Jews in the Midwest donate more frequently to Federations than do Jews in any other region.*
• Affiliated Jews donate more frequently to Federation than do unaffiliated Jews.*
• Jewish children today receive more full-time Jewish schooling than did Jewish adults.*
• Greater proportions of Jewish children and young adults have received Jewish day school/yeshiva education than older adults.
• Among those who have been to college, proportionally more young Jews have taken a Jewish studies course.

III. Intermarriage

• Intermarriage
• Definitions of Intermarriage
• Rates of intermarriage have increased since 1970, but the rate of increase has slowed since the 1980's.
• Jews with intermarried parents are much more likely to be intermarried themselves.
• In younger and older age groups, Jewish men are more likely to be intermarried than Jewish women.
• More intensive forms of Jewish education in childhood are associated with lower rates of intermarriage in adulthood.
• In-married Jews report stronger Jewish connections than intermarried Jews.
• Proportionally more in-married Jews are communally affiliated than intermarried Jews.
• Almost all children of in-marriages are being raised as Jews, compared with one-third of children of intermarriages.

IV. Special Topics

• Special Topics
• A greater percentage of elderly Jews (age 65 and older) live alone than other Jewish adults.
• Jews over 65 report more health problems.
• Proportionally more elderly Jews earn low incomes than Jews under 65.
• In some cases, proportionally more elderly Jews are affiliated with Jewish organizations.
• In other cases, nearly equal proportions of Jewish elderly and other adults are involved with Jewish organizations and programs.
• More than two-thirds of Jewish immigrants to the U.S. since 1980 come from the former Soviet Union (FSU).
• Most immigrants from the FSU live in the Northeast.
• Immigrants from the FSU report lower household incomes than other immigrants.
• FSU Jews are more connected to other Jews through marriage and friendship.
• Households living in poverty* are a growing concern for the American Jewish community.
• The overall Jewish poverty rate is 5%, but poverty is more common among some groups of Jews.
• Jews living below the poverty line report proportionally more health problems.
• Jews living below the poverty line are more likely than other Jews to observe individual rituals and have strong ethnic attachments.
• Jews living below the poverty line report proportionally more health problems.
• Next Steps

Asterisks (*) in the presentation refer to the more Jewishly engaged population of 4.3 million Jews rather than the total Jewish population of 5.2 million.