The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported on Tuesday, 2 Adar II that most women in Israel push off getting married to get an education and find a job first. While in 1990 the average Israeli women got married at the age of 23.4, today women getting married for the first time wait until age 25. Back in 1980 the average age was 22.5.
The average woman will have her first child at the age of 27.3, about two years after getting married. This obviously may be true of the general population, but not so of the chareidi and dati leumi torani communities. The reason given for waiting to have a child is to finish one’s education and achieve a level of financial stability. A decade ago, the average Israeli women had her first child at the age of 26.5.
During her lifetime, the average Israeli women will have 3.05 children, more than the 2.7 children average back in the 1980s. Israelis productivity numbers are highest among OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nation’s, which average 1.7 but lower than before the major recession in the 1960s, when the average was 4 and at its height, 4.7 with the latter dating back to the 1950s.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
4 Responses
too bad the statistics don’t differentiate between observant women and seculars; the findings would probably be something like observant women average age of marriage is 20 whereas seculars (those few who marry) at the age of 30. Observant women give birth at 21 whereas secular ladies (those few who do give birth) at 35.
it is an important demographic factor in the changing face of Israel to know the birthrate and age of marriage.
Woman with an a.
Since Israel consists of distinct populations, a group average is largely meaningless.
how much is .05 of a child?