Cohabitation and Intermarriage – What will Jewish Parents Think?

A report issued by the Pew Research Center at the end of 2010 revealed that marriage in America was at an all-time low, with only” title=”interracial couples and same-sex couples are more likely to live away
from the community in which their parents reside” target=”_blank”>interracial couples and same-sex couples are more likely to live away from the community in which their parents reside.

Does this apply to Jews?  Let’s look at non-marital unions in the 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Survey.  For this analysis a non-marital union was defined as a household in which the respondent indicated a partner, fiancé, boyfriend, or girlfriend was living with them. Only about 6 percent of all Jewish households were non-marital unions, because non-marital unions are linked to age: 16% of all respondents 18-24 and 13% of those 25-29 were cohabiting, as compared with only 6 percent of 30-39 year old respondents and 3 percent of those 40 and older.

The table below compares the percentage of cohabiting and married respondents with a non-Jewish partner controlling for ancestry. Only respondents under 30 are analyzed, as these are the most likely to be cohabiting. As pini00003@gmail.com