Intended, Appropriate, and Actual Family Size in Israel: Policy Attitudes and Implications

Sergio Dellapergola, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Israel’s population reflects unique combinations of immigration and high fertility. Arab and Jewish TFRs were 4.0 and 2.7 in 2005 – above Europe, the U.S., and some Mid-Eastern countries. Demographic trends impact Israel’s regional and global political relations. We examine Jewish (79% of Israel’s total) fertility patterns based on a 2005 national survey of married women and men at reproductive ages, comparing actual, intended, and appropriate family sizes in different demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts. Diffuse gaps exist between ideal perceptions (3-4 children) and actual performances (2-3 children). Perceptions of incentives and constraints to family size provide clues to a renewed approach to social policies: preference for private over public motives to family growth, and a demand for better early childcare, cheaper education, housing, and provisions for working women. Israel’s prevailing policies of transfer payments do not meet a persisting demand for children grounded on child quality and women’s equitable status.