American Jewish Identity Survey

JBC=Jew by Choice
JBR=Jewish by Religion
JNR=Of Jewish Parents & No Religion
JOR=Of Jewish Parents & Now of Other Religion
GA=No Jewish Adult in Head of Household & Only a Child of Jewish Parentage

Adult Population Classifed as Jewish by Four Selection Criteria (Unweighted Sample and Weighted Population Estimate)

	N	%	N	%
Religion	618	51	2,800,000	51
Parentage (not religion)	528	43	2,200,000	40
Upbringing (not parent/religion)	28	2	164,000	3
Considering Self Jewish only	41	4	203,000	4
(Institutional estimate)			110,000	2
TOTAL	1,215	100	5,497,000	100

Core Jewish Population 1990 & 2001

Jewish Identity Category	1990	%	2001	%
Jewish Parent: Religion Judaism	3,365,000 (3,137,000)	61	2,760,000	52
No Jewish Parent: Religion Judaism	174,000	3	170,000	3
Jewish Parent: No Religion	813,000	15	1,120,000	21
	CHILDREN (Under age 18)
Jew by Religion	856,000	16	700,000	13
Jew No Religion	307,000	5	590,000	11

TOTAL - ALL AGES	5,515,000	100	5,340,000	100

Jewish & Jewish Origins Populations 1990 & 2001

Jewish Identity Category	1990		2001
	Number	%	Number	%
Core Jews (all ages)	5,515,000	81	5,340,000	69
Adults of Jewish Parentage: Other Religions	625,000	9	1,470,000	19
Children of Jewish Parentage: Other Religions	707,000	10	880,000	12
Jweish & Jewish Origins Populations	6,847,000	100	7,690,000	100

Percentage of America's Jewish Adults 2001

AJIS 2001	JBR	JNR	JOR
	N=2,930,000	N=1,120,000	1,470,000
Jewish Parentage	Percent	Percent	Percent
Both Parents	78	37	7
Mother Only	6	21	27
Halakhically Jewish	(84)	(58)	(34)
Father only	3	25	28
Neither, Refusal, Don't Know	13	17	37
Total	100	100	100

Total Adult Population With a Jewish Mother = 3,610,000

Total American Jewish & Kindred Population 1990 & 2001 (Weighted Data)

Jewish Identity Category	NJPS 1990		NJPS 2001
ADULT POPULATION	Number	Cum. Percent	Number	Cum. Percent.
Jewish Parentage & Jewish Religion	3,365,000	41	2,760,000	28
Not Jewish parentage, but of Jewish religion	174,000		170,000
Jewish by Religion (Regardless of Parentage)	3,539,000	43	2,930,000	30
Jewish Parentage & No Religion	813,000		1,120,000
Adult Core Jewish Population	4,352,000	53	4,050,000	41
Jewish Parentage & Other Religion	625,000		1,465,000
Total Adult Jewish Origin + Jewish Population	4,977,000	61	5,515,000	56
CHILD POPULATION
Core Jewish Parent's Religion Judaism	856,000		700,000
Core Jewish Parent of No Religion	307,000		590,000
Core Jewish or Jewish Ancestry Parent of Other Religion	700,000		880,000
TOTAL JEWISH ORIGIN + JEWISH CHILDREN	1,863,000	83	2,170,000	78

Non-Jewish Adults in HHs with Core Jewish & Jewish Origins Population	1,350,000		2,165,000
TOTAL PERSONS IN QUALIFYING JEWISH HOUSEHOLDS	8,200,000	100	9,850,000	100

Socio-Demographic Profile of Adult Jewish Identity Types

Social Characteristics	JBR - Jews by Religion	JNR - Jews No Religion	JOR - Jews of Other Religions
Number of Adults	2,930,000	1,120,000	1,470,000
Proportion of Male/Female	49/51	52/48	45/55
Median Age	51 years	44 years	42 years
Percent married	59	45	59
Percent of Married with Jewish Spouse	77	16	Not applicable
Percent College graduates	58	57	36
Percent Employed F-T Percent Employed P-T	49 13	56 13	63 13
Percent Registered Voters	85	76	85
Percent Democrat vs. Republican	55/13	41/13	28/40
Percent Own Their Home	77	67	69
Median annual Households Income	$72,000	$58,000	$54,000
Region of Residence
Percent in Northeast	43	26	20
Percent in South	26	31	36
Percent in Midwest	10	9	13
Percent in West	21	34	31

Regional Distribution of Core Jewish Population

Region	NJPS 1990	AJIS 2001
Northeast	44	38
South	22	27
Midwest	11	12
West	23	23
Total	100	100

Outlook of Jews by Religion and Adherents of Selected Other Religious Groups

<<<<<OUTLOOK SCALE>>>>>

RELIGIOUS GROUP	Secular	Somewhat secular	Somewhat religious	Religious	TOTAL
Assemblies of God	0	3	20	72	1,106,000
Churches of Christ	0	3	30	65	2,603,000
Methodist	1	5	51	42	14,150,000
Mormon	2	7	21	68	2,787,000
7th Day Adventist	3	4	19	73	724,000
Baptist	3	4	37	54	33,830,000
Lutheran	3	7	48	41	9,580,000
UCC/Congregationalist	4	5	55	34	1,378,000
Jehovah's Witnesses	4	5	55	34	1,331,000
Catholic	6	7	50	33	50,873,000
Episcopalian	7	8	52	32	3,451,000
Buddhist	7	15	46	24	1,082,000
Muslim	9	9	49	32	1,104,000
Jews by Religion	27	17	42	11	2,831,000
Jews of No Religion*	52	12	17	6	1,120,000
No religion (non-Jews)	40	13	28	8	28,361,000

U.S. Total Adults	10	6	38	37	208,000,000

*NOTE: Jews of No Religion includes people who are Jewish by virtue of parentage or upbringing, but when asked about their religion, they answer “none.”

Belief that God Performs Miracles: Jews by Religion and Adherents of Selected Other Religious Groups*

* Asked only of those who said "God exists."

<<<<<BELIEF SCALE>>>>>

RELIGIOUS GROUP	Disagree strongly	Disagree somewhat	Agree somewhat	Agree strongly	TOTAL
Assemblies of God	0	1	1	98	1,106,000
Churches of Christ	5	2	15	77	2,603,000
Methodist	2	4	18	74	14,150,000
Mormon	1	3	7	88	2,787,000
7th Day Adventist	0	1	1	98	724,000
Baptist	1	1	8	90	33,830,000
Lutheran	2	5	22	69	9,580,000
UCC/Congregationalist	0	13	31	54	1,378,000
Jehovah's Witnesses	5	4	13	54	1,331,000
Catholic	1	4	22	69	50,873,000
Episcopalian	3	6	28	59	3,451,000
Buddhist	9	11	40	41	1,082,000
Muslim	3	6	14	72	1,104,000
Jews by Religion	11	17	31	36	2,831,000
No religion (non-Jews)	7	11	31	47	29,481,000

U.S. Total Adults	2	4	18	73	208,000,000

Belief Indicators by Type of Jewish Classification

Religious Orientation Indicators	Qualifying Adults
	JBR	JNR	JOR	Total
	2,930,000	1,120,000	1,470,000	5,520,000
Do you agree or disagree that God exists
Disagree strongly	5	17	3	7
Disagree somewhat	9	6	1	7
Agree somewhat	23	29	14	22
Agree strongly	54	34	80	56
DK/RF (not determined)	9	13	2	8

Do you agree or disagree that 'God helps me?'	NOTE: THIS QUESTION WAS ONLY ASKED OF THOSE WHO AGREED THAT "GOD EXISTS"
Disagree strongly	15	32	2	16
Disagree somewhat	15	10	6	13
Agree somewhat	25	20	13	21
Agree strongly	34	20	76	41
DK/RF (not determined)	10	18	3	9

“Do you agree or disagree that ‘God performs miracles?’”	NOTE: THIS QUESTION WAS ONLY ASKED OF THOSE WHO AGREED THAT "GOD EXISTS"
Disagree strongly	11	11		7
Disagree somewhat	17	21	8	15
Agree somewhat	31	28	14	25
Agree strongly	36	28	76	48
DK/RF (not determined)	5	12	2	5

“Do you agree or disagree that ‘God hears prayers?’”	NOTE: THIS QUESTION WAS ONLY ASKED OF THOSE WHO AGREED THAT "GOD EXISTS"
Disagree strongly	10	13		8
Disagree somewhat	13	10	4	10
Agree somewhat	27	39	12	24
Agree strongly	44	25	82	53
DK/RF (not determined)	5	13	2	5

“Over the course of your life, have you become more or less of a believer in God or the Divine?”
More	38	30	74	44
Less	19	26	8	18
No change	37	33	16	32
Don't Know/RF (not determined)	6	11	2	6

Beliefs About God By Position Along the Religious-Secular Continuum (Percent Who Agree “Somewhat” or “Strongly” With Each Belief)

<<<<<OUTLOOK CONTINUUM>>>>>>>

BELIEFS	Religious	Somewhat Religious	Uncertain/DK/Refused	Somewhat secular	Secular
God exists	94	90	50	78	53
God helps me	86	71	33	53	31
God performs miracles	92	68	72	60	46
God hears prayers	90	76	73	55	55
BASE TOTALS	340,000	1,300,000	180,000	580,000	1,300,000

NOTE: Totals include only JBR and JNR categories; each cell is of 100 percent. E.g. 94 percent of those who described themselves as “religious” agreed either “strongly or somewhat” with the proposition: “God exists,” while just 53 percent of those describing themselves as “secular” do so.

Identification With Branches of Judaism Among Jewish-by-Religion Adults (Percent of Each Branch that is “Religious” or “Secular”)

<<<<<OUTLOOK CONTINUUM>>>>>>>

BRANCHES OF JUDAISM	Religious	Somewhat Religious	Uncertain/DK/Refused	Somewhat Secular	Secular	TOTAL Percent
Secular Humanist *		14		19	67	100
Reconstructionist *		20		65	15	100
Orthodox	56	28	2	2	12	100
Conservative	7	54	4	14	21	100
Reform	7	43	2	18	30	100
Just Jewish	7	20	13	22	38	100

NOTE: categories provided by respondents in reply to: “What branch of Judaism do you identify with, if any?” Total includes JBR adults in residential households only.* These categories are based on very small samples, making generalizations difficult.

Affiliation With Temple, Synagogue or Congregation

	Qualifying Households by Respondent Type
	JBR	JNR	JOR	GA	TOTAL
N=	1,547,000	600,000	705,000	908,000	3,760,000
	%	%	%	%	%
Affiliated	50	12	7	12	26
Not Affiliated	46	81	90	80	68
DK/RF (Undetermined)	4	7	3	8	6
TOTAL	100	100	100	100	100

Synagogue Affiliation by the Religious-Secular Continuum

<<<<<<OUTLOOK CONTINUUM>>>>>>>

Synagogue Affiliated	Religious	Somewhat Religious	Uncertain/DK/Refused	Somewhat Secular	Secular	TOTAL
YES	69	59	9	39	21	1,600,000
NO	29	36	50	58	76	2,100,000
No Answer/DK/Ref	2	5	41	3	3	200,000
	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
TOTAL Number	400,000	1,360,000	300,000	600,000	1,300,000	3,900,000

NOTE: categories provided by respondents in reply to: “Is anyone in your household affiliated with a synagogue or temple?” [Total N = JBR/JNR adults in residential households]

JCC & Other Organizational Affiliation by Religious-Secular Continuum

Affiliated with a JCC Etc.	Religious	Somewhat Religious	Uncertain/DK/Refused	Somewhat Secular	Secular	TOTAL
YES	42	33	12	28	13	980,000
NO	56	62	47	69	84	2,730,000
No Answer/DK/Ref	2	5	41	3	3	220,000
	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
TOTAL Number	400,000	1,360,000	300,000	600,000	1,300,000	3,900,000

NOTE: categories provided by respondents in reply to: “Is anyone in your household affiliated with a Jewish community center or some other Jewish community organization?” [Total N = JBR/JNR adults in residential households]

Jewish Friendship Network by Religious-Secular Continuum

Proportion of Friends Jewish	Religious	Somewhat Religious	Uncertain/DK/Refused	Somewhat Secular	Secular
All or most	45	28	16	22	15
About half	16	33	17	25	25
Some	22	23	15	23	35
None	11	14	22	24	23
D/K or Ref	6	2	30	6	2
TOTAL Number	400,000	1,360,000	300,000	600,000	1,300,000

NOTE: categories provided by respondents in reply to: “What proportion of your closest friends would you say are Jewish?” [Total N = JBR/JNR adults in residential households]

Visiting and Attitude Toward Israel by Religious-Secular Continuum (Percent)

ISRAEL	Religious	Somewhat Religious	Uncertain/DK/Refused	Somewhat Secular	Secular
VISITED
Yes	47	41	29	26	23
No	51	54	41	69	74
Uncertain/DK/Refused	2	5	30	5	5

FEELING ATTACHED
Not attached	14	29	31	40	55
Somewhat attached	21	42	23	39	25
Very attached	58	23	12	15	15
Uncertain/DK/Refused	7	6	34	6	5

Total N for each Q	400,000	1,360,000	300,000	600,000	1,300,000

NOTE: [Total N = JBR/JNR adults in residential households]

Sources: Center for Cultural Judaism