Study: 60% of Jewish children in the New York City area live in Orthodox homes

Every year, the Orthodox population has been adding 5,000 Jews while the non-Orthodox population has been losing 10,000 Jews. Much of the growth appears to have come from the ultra-Orthodox including the Hasidic sectors. The Orthodox birthrate in the United States is far higher than that of most other religious groups. Orthodox Jews average 4.1 children per adult, while America’s general public averages 2.2 children. The Orthodox Jewish number is higher than the average for Protestants (2.2) and Catholics (2.4). Hispanic Catholics (3.1) come close, but still fall short. Orthodox Jewish communities rely on government aid programs to subsidize their child-heavy lifestyle. In Rockland County, New York, the Hasidic village of New Square receives Section 8 housing subsidies at a higher rate than anywhere else in the region. In New Jersey, schools in the Orthodox Jewish city of Lakewood get more federally backed E-Rate telecom subsidies than schools in any other municipality. Half of the people living in the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, in Orange County, New York, are on food stamps; a third are on Medicaid.