THE JEWISH POPULATION of AUSTRALIA Key Findings from the 2011 Census
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THE JEWISH POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA Key findings from the 2011 Census Dr David Graham All rights reserved © JCA First published 2014 JCA 140-146 Darlinghurst Rd Darlinghurst NSW 2023 http://www.JCA.org.au ISBN: 978-0-9874195-7-6 This work is copyright. Apart for any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of it may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction rights should be directed to the publisher. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.....................................................................................................................2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................4 What is a census and who is included?.........................................................................................4 Why does the census matter? .........................................................................................................5 Notes about the data ........................................................................................................................5 AUSTRALIA’S JEWISH POPULATION IN CONTEXT .................................................................6 Global Jewish context.......................................................................................................................6 National religious context ...............................................................................................................7 Historical context..............................................................................................................................9 GEOGRAPHY .....................................................................................................................................10 DEMOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................12 Age and sex structure ....................................................................................................................13 Median age...................................................................................................................................15 Jewish births ................................................................................................................................15 JEWISH HOUSEHOLDS....................................................................................................................17 Family households......................................................................................................................18 Elderly households .....................................................................................................................18 Same-sex couple households.....................................................................................................18 INTERMARRIAGE.............................................................................................................................19 Children of intermarried couples .............................................................................................22 IMMIGRATION ..................................................................................................................................23 Place of birth....................................................................................................................................23 In-migration.....................................................................................................................................24 LANGUAGES......................................................................................................................................28 SOCIO-ECONOMICS.........................................................................................................................30 Education.........................................................................................................................................30 Qualifications ..................................................................................................................................31 Income..............................................................................................................................................33 Household income......................................................................................................................33 Family income .............................................................................................................................33 Personal income ..........................................................................................................................34 Housing............................................................................................................................................35 NON-COMMERCIAL ECONOMY..................................................................................................36 Volunteering....................................................................................................................................36 Domestic work................................................................................................................................37 HEALTH, DISABILITY AND CARE ...............................................................................................38 Unpaid care provision................................................................................................................39 APPENDICES......................................................................................................................................40 Appendix 1: adjusted Jewish population counts by significant urban area, local government area and postcode ....................................................................................................40 Appendix 2: census data adjustment...........................................................................................41 Unadjusted (enumerated) data.................................................................................................42 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is the product of a collaborative research partnership between the JCA in Sydney and the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University in Melbourne. In the past, analysis of census data has tended to be carried out on a state by state basis and whilst local analyses remain vital planning tools, and continue to be produced, this work marks a new direction in interstate cooperation. This report has benefited from the valuable comments and suggestions made during its drafting process by Peter Philippsohn OAM (President of the JCA), Amanda Goodman (Head of Communal Planning at the JCA), Mark Steiner (formerly Strategic Planning Coordinator at the JCA), and Dr Gary Eckstein for his independent expert advice. Guidance and support was also gratefully received from Professor Andrew Markus of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University throughout the process. Tanya Munz typeset the report and also provided welcome comments on the text. Dr David Graham was responsible for ordering the customised census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We gratefully acknowledge JCA, Gandel Philanthropy and Jewish Care Victoria for their generous support in funding the Australia, New South Wales and Victoria reports. The Jewish Population of Australia: Key Findings from the 2011 Census 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The census was held on 9th August 2011 and was carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Here is a summary of the key findings. Total Jewish population • Australia’s total Jewish population in 2011 was estimated to be 112,000 people. • Jews make up 0.5% of Australia’s total population. • Between 2006 and 2011 the Jewish population grew by 6%, up from an estimated 105,600 Jews in 2006. Between 2001 and 2011 the Jewish population increased by an estimated 20%. Geography • The vast majority (95%) of Australia’s Jewish population live in its capital cities; 85% of Jews live in either Melbourne or Sydney. • Caulfield North in Melbourne is the most populous Jewish neighbourhood in Australia with an estimated 10,200 Jewish people. Jews make up one third (31%) of Caulfield North’s population. Demography • The median age of Jews is 42 years, older than the median for Australians in general (37 years). South Australia has the oldest Jewish median age (48 years); ACT and NT have the youngest (37 years in each). • An estimated 1,240 babies were born to Jewish parents in the year to census night, almost exactly the same number as in the 2006 census (1,250 babies). Jewish households • There were 43,500 households in Australia in which at least one person was Jewish. • There were 36,700 ‘Jewish households’1 in Australia; one third (33%) of these contain dependent children. There were 2,650 Jewish lone parents. • There were 20,600 Jewish married couple households and 2,100 Jewish de facto couple households. • The average Jewish household size was 2.5 persons compared with 2.6 in general. • Compared with Australians generally, Jews are more likely to live in couple families (61% v 56%) and more likely to live alone (28% v 23%). • Of the estimated 10,200 Jewish