One in four American adults who were raised Jewish no longer identify as such, a Pew Research Centre study has revealed.
The report, which surveyed 78,000 people across 36 countries, examines global trends in “religious switching”, when individuals move between religions or abandon religion altogether. In the United States, 76 per cent of those raised Jewish still identify as Jewish, while 17 per cent now describe themselves as unaffiliated, 2 per cent as Christian, and 1 per cent as Muslim.
“A person can switch from one religious group to another, such as from Christianity to Buddhism,” said lead author Kristen Lesage. “But it could also mean switching from one religion to no religion, and that includes anybody that identifies as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular.”
The study found a notable difference between American and Israeli Jews. In Israel, 100 per cent of respondents raised Jewish said they still identified as such. “Of course, by 100 per cent, we are rounding to the nearest integer,” Lesage clarified. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that every single person in Israel who was raised Jewish still considers themselves Jewish today.”
Israeli and American flags adorned lamp-posts around Jerusalem
Pew also explored how people enter Judaism. In the US, 14 per cent of currently Jewish adults converted into the faith; 7 per cent were raised Christian, and 6 per cent were unaffiliated. In Israel, that figure was just 1 per cent.
While Judaism showed a high retention rate compared to other religions, Christianity saw the largest decline. Only 73 per cent of Americans raised Christian still identify as such. Islam fared slightly better, with 77 per cent retention in the US. Twenty per cent of practising American Muslims converted into the faith.
The survey also revealed intra-religious switching among Israeli Jews. Over one in five adults said they had changed affiliation between groups such as secular, traditional, and religious Zionist. “Older Israelis were more likely than individuals under 35 to have switched religious groups, 33 per cent versus 8 per cent,” the report found.
Lesage noted that future findings will explore belief and practice in greater depth: “We are actually working on other reports examining the answers to those questions.”
