According to data amassed for the publication of the annual HaChevra HaChareidit (‘החברה החרדית’) of the Israel Democracy Institute and the Jerusalem Institute, in recent years, there have been significant changes in marital habits in Chareidi society.

The last years examined in this study are 2015-2016, and reflect a dramatic increase in the number of Chareidim who remained single between ages 20-25. If in the years 2003-2004 there were 39 percent who were single, in 15/16 it had already reached 56 percent.

The trend continues when one looks at a wider age range, between the ages of 20 and 30. In the years 2015-2016, 31.1 percent of Chareidim were single, whereas a decade earlier, in 2004-2006, only 22.6 percent were single.

Haaretz explains the analysis of the data in the study, based on Central Bureau of Statistics data, that the greatest change occurred in women: In the years 2014-2016, the rate of chareidi single women aged 20-30 reached 32.4 percent, compared with 18.9 a decade earlier. The change among men is actually much more moderate: from 27.8 percent single men a decade ago to 30.4 now.

According to Dr. Gilad Malach, head of the chareidi program at the Israel Democracy Institute and an associate of annual publication ‘החברה החרדית’: “Once a young chareidi male or female did not have the option to go to school. Today, when there are many possibilities, quite a few prefer to pursue a degree, find a good job and only then turn to marriage.”

“This whole trend goes under the radar of the community leaders,” says Malach, “because each one only knows its immediate surroundings and are not aware that this is a widespread phenomenon.”

Dr. Malach admits that the chareidi mainstream is still interested in learning Torah, but there have been dramatic changes in the employment market: Just 50 percent of Chareidi women worked in 2003, compared to more than 70 percent now.

Malach attributes this trend, and a growing focus on education, to the high cost of living in Israel and the fact that women are still expected to be the main breadwinners once they marry. Therefore, for many, work and studies take precedence over marriage at a young age.

Dr. Maya Choshen, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Studies and one of the editors of the study, adds another important aspect: “It will of necessity lead to a slowing in the population growth rate.” This is because if a woman begins childbirth at a later age and maintains the same rate of children, she will not begin marrying off children until a later age, often not until in her 50s.

Both Choshen and Malach note that these changes are part of a prolonged process. “If current trends continue, we will see the results only years from now,” says Choshen.

N., a chareidi matchmaker from the Jerusalem area who was exposed to these amazing figures, told Haaretz she is not at all surprised: “Just this week I tried suggesting matches to two girls, and their mothers told me unequivocally that until they finish the first years of school there is nothing to talk about.”

“Today, people are much more self-aware and are preparing for the challenges of married life. I see young Chareidi men and women who want to see the bank account in good shape before getting married.”

“They see the alternative as good for them. There is money, friends, freedom. They do not understand why they need the burden of a family,” adds the anonymous matchmaker.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)