Jerusalem Post

ByLEO DAVIDS

What is causing this dramatic decline in births throughout the rich, developed world? And why is Israel an outlier?

Where did all the babies go? Why has the birth rate dropped so much almost throughout the world today but not in Israel?
Report after report in the media tell us how birth rates in Europe and the Far East have fallen to unprecedented lows during the current decade. The reality is documented very clearly, but what is causing this dramatic decline in births throughout the rich, developed world? What drives such a massive trend – where the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple is now a distant memory? That is what this article will try to outline for its readers.
In order to understand how things have evolved to the current challenging conditions facing young couples who are considering how large a family they can afford, we have to examine the major aspects of today’s socio-economic milieu: work, housing, income and how these interact. How are these experienced by typical young couples? That should clarify what life looks like to prospective parents, and why most of them decide that one or maybe two children is all they can manage. Some value factors can also be part of the story, as well as political and national concerns.
There are some regions in the world with higher fertility rates, notably in Africa and several other spots, but our discussion focuses on the First World societies of North America, Europe, Japan, and Korea. The conditions for these populations are broadly the same, so we can paint the picture applying to all these rich, sophisticated lands. We are not getting into detailed studies of particular countries nor presenting statistics about a phenomenon so highly visible as the great decline in childbearing in so much of today’s developed world.
Work and income
The breadwinner husband with a full-time wife and mother family that was the norm 75 or 80 years ago is now a rare survivor of life as it once was. Today, two full incomes are needed to maintain a middle-class lifestyle for the majority of couples in most of the wealthier countries, so there is no adult available at home to be a full-time parent.
 Babies (Illustrative) (credit: INGIMAGE)
Women’s careers have given them independence and a life-jacket if they need to leave an abusive or incompatible husband, but they cannot stay home whether in or out of a couple relationship. So having several children is often viewed as economic suicide or task overload that women dare not risk.
A steady job with a long-term employer, leading to a substantial company pension upon retirement, is also more and more a niche situation or a relic of past decades. Short-term contract jobs, a “gig“ labor market, frequent moves to new firms and locations are what is available to young workers today, making family income precarious or volatile. Thus many feel that they dare not impair their employability by having a large family. Quality child care is hard to find and expensive, so if Grandma will not or cannot provide parenting, one child may be the reasonable objective for prudent couples.
Housing and space
Remember the detached single-family home? In today’s big cities, those are out of financial reach for most young couples. If you inherit a nice home from parents or grandparents, good for you, but few are that fortunate. So how about that nice apartment on the seventh floor or the 27th floor of an urban high-rise? Well, it’s livable for adults but not great for little children. They need play space and neighboring playmates, frequent excursions to amusements, to school, or to sports, but the residential tower is not convenient for such things. Just try to manage raising multiple children in such an environment. If you own a home with some grass around it, you are part of a fortunate minority whose outlook is very different from renters and condo dwellers. Some families have bought a nice home for their kids, but the mortgage is overwhelming. Rents ascend along with purchase prices, so that isn’t a way out. Unless you win a lottery or are very highly paid, the costs for housing are a major worry for young families from Seoul to Seattle.
So we can sympathize with the couple who keep deciding that it’s not yet time to give their firstborn a sibling, until the biological clock indicates that it’s too late to do that.
Culture and ideologies
Many post-modern world views are strongly against having children at all, especially among well-educated people in richer countries. One philosophy is that everybody should live freely and happily for oneself, and nothing should block or hinder the self-centered lifestyle possible in today’s world. Parenthood is viewed as a barrier to enjoying fulfillment to the maximum. It incurs too many responsibilities that are a burden for today’s sophisticates.
Another reason often given for remaining child-free is that we now live in a conflicted, overcrowded, and ecologically unsustainable world, so why bring children into this chaos, to fight for a decent, comfortable life which eludes so many? It is viewed as foresight and kindness, thus sparing future generations from entering this giant arena. That way, we may be also preserving the Earth a little from its human degradation.
The Israeli parenting situation
The birth rate in the Jewish state is much higher than in the other First World countries. Both Arabs and Jews in Israel have substantially large families, after other lands have become potential shrinkers due to low replacement childbearing. Why is that the case?
The elephant in the bedroom for many Jewish couples is the massive number of deaths during the Holocaust, and then in Israel’s many wars. Israelis are always conscious of the losses we suffered, hence the virtue of bringing new life to rebuild the Jewish people. Some are moved by this idea, others feel it subconsciously without articulating it. 
It is well known that religious populations worldwide have significantly higher birth rates than secular ones. In the Jewish tradition, it is a mitzvah to bear children, a duty based on the divine commandment in Genesis 1:8 and in Genesis 9:7, which motivates many in Israel, which has large Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox sectors in its population. This is a major factor in Israel’s strong demographics.
Furthermore, procreation in Israel has a national-political aspect as well. If the non-Jewish birth rate in Israel were higher than among Jews, eventually Israel could not remain Jewish and democratic. For decades in the last century, this was a great fear often discussed in policy circles and in the press, as the Arab birth rates were much higher than the Jewish averages. However, in recent years that anxiety has faded away, as these birth rates have converged. Arab birth rates have slowly declined, while Jewish births have kept a hearty pace well above the levels elsewhere, so the Jewish population remains the majority in Israel.
People in Israel have a positive attitude toward children, exhibiting more patience and warmth than in other countries. Perhaps subconsciously, for the reasons stated above, they appreciate all these little co-religionists and fellow citizens. So it is psychologically comfortable to be a parent among neighbors and employers who admire and support young families, which I think is common in Israel.
Many authors write that Jews in Israel feel that their lives and choices are building a future for Judaism and Jewish culture, so they are participants in this very meaningful shaping of history. Procreation is central to this grand project.
Until recently, high-rise apartment buildings were not as ubiquitous as they are today, so housing was more friendly to young families. This might become an anti-natalist factor in the near future. City planners have a challenge facing them in regard to playgrounds, easy street access, and pedestrian safety, not just shopping malls, traffic flow, and parking.
Also helpful is the financial support for new parents that is provided through the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi). Based on contributions by women – sometimes fathers take some leave from work for family care – there are birth grants (very substantial for those who bear twins) and income replacement for 15 weeks, based on previous earnings. Adoptive parents receive the same financial benefits. These are clearly family-friendly policies, which convey an attitude of partnership in building the national population together with the parents.
So, Jews in Israel do not adhere to the massive trend of population shrinkage in the developed world, apparently committed to survival and growth rather than despair and decrease. Those who support a strong and healthy Israel can be happy with the current demographic situation.■
Leo Davids is a retired sociologist who was a visiting research fellow in the Demographic Center of the Israel government in 1981-1982. He served as a faculty member at York University in Toronto for over 40 years. He and his wife live in Jerusalem after making aliyah in 2018.