When J.D. Vance’s comments about childless leaders were unearthed last month, it kicked off a round of speculation about population growth, child-bearing, and replacement numbers.
Will developed countries with a below-replacement birth rate be economically sustainable? What might cause people to have more babies – is it a social safety net, subsidized child care, addressing loneliness?
I was struck by a piece in The Atlantic a few weeks ago by Christine Emba entitled “The Real Reason People Aren’t Having Kids” that pointed to another factor: purpose. Governments can offer economic incentives to raise the birth rate, but based on research into people’s reasons for child-bearing, Emba writes,
“Many in the current generation of young adults don’t seem totally convinced of their own purpose or the purpose of humanity at large, let alone that of a child. It may be that for many people, absent a clear sense of meaning, the perceived challenges of having children outweigh any subsidy the government might offer.”
Interestingly, despite a variety of economic supports for child-bearing in OECD countries, the only country in the OECD with an above replacement birth rate is Israel. I was not expecting that, but truthfully I am glad to hear it. Despite the heartbreaking challenges this year, and every year, of living in Israel, Israelis find purpose in building families. I do, too. Although I’ve been reading the alarm raised by general pro-natalists with what I might describe as bemusement, when it comes to Jewish population trends, I have a more vested interest. As a people, we Jews are extremely concerned, perhaps even obsessed, with counting our numbers as a means to measure how well we are doing at surviving. Birth rates for us are not neutral statistics.
Whole philanthropic agendas have been created to focus on Jewish matchmaking and thereby Jewish population growth. I remember a rabbi telling us in college to be sure to have a “mitzvah baby” – one more baby than you were intending, in order to replenish Jewish population numbers decimated in the Holocaust. This I thought impinged too much on individual (especially women’s) choices around reproduction, but it accurately summarized one of the bigger “purposes” of Jewish child-bearing: survival.
I’m not sure Jewish survival is enough of a purpose for Millennial and Gen Z Jews to have more babies, although for some it may very well be. For others, it may be the existential purpose found in a life of faith, meaning, connection, or belief in something greater than themselves.
Above all, though, the way Jewish population differs from a strict birth rate count is important: Our numbers not only go up with each new Jewish baby born, but also when new Jews convert or when Jews embrace their heritage and decide to pass it on to others. Our numbers go down when Jews no longer see the value of their Jewish heritage or feel rejected by the Jewish community, therefore abandoning Judaism altogether.
Jewish purpose is the real growth opportunity.
Rabbi Julia Appel is Clal’s Senior Director of Innovation, helping Jewish professionals and lay leaders revitalize their communities by serving their people better. She is passionate about creating Jewish community that meets the challenges of the 21st century – in which Jewish identity is a choice, not an obligation. Her writing has been featured in such publications as The Forward, The Globe and Mail, and The Canadian Jewish News, among others.