East Bay Jewish Community Study - Jewish Federation of the ...

Although 42 percent of younger Jews say that making sure their children have some kind of
Jewish education is very important, only 30 percent of parents in this age group are already
providing their children with a Jewish education. A plurality — 44 percent — of young parents
is actually not at all interested in providing Jewish education when asked directly.
Children of interfaith relationships are much less likely than average to currently be receiving a
Jewish education (11 percent as compared to 30 percent), and a plurality (41 percent) of their
parents is not at all interested in providing one. It is clear that non-Jewish spouse and partner
involvement makes a big difference in this area. Among those whose non-Jewish spouse or
partner always participates in Jewish life, 60 percent are already providing their children with a
Jewish education — twice the average; even among those with non-Jewish spouses who
sometimes participate in Jewish life, the proportion already providing a Jewish education for
their children is 37 percent, 7 percent higher than the average.
Figure 69: Spousal Participation and Jewish Education Among the Interfaith
Are you currently providing your children with a formal Jewish education (IF NO) How interested are you in providing
your children with a Jewish education **
100
80
Not too interested
Somewhat interested
Already providing
Not at all interested
Very interested
76
60
64
66
60
40
20
0
19
11
Jewish
spouse
17
10
11
23
41
16
6 9 8 11
Non-Jewish
spouse
25
Spouse
participates
always
37
31
30
Spouse
participates
sometimes
18
4
19
6
Spouse
participates
rarely/never
54
**Question asked only of parents
72