Israel’s fertility rate (the average number of children per woman during the course of her life) from 2.95 children per woman in 2003 to 2.9 in 2004, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. The fertility rate was around 2.9 children per woman during the 1990s.
Israel’s fertility rate is higher than the prevailing rates in developed countries. It resembles the fertility rates in developing countries in Latin America and Asia, such as India (3.0 children per woman), Paraguay (2.9), Bahrain (2.8), and Venezuela (2.7).
Different groups in Israel have different fertility rates. Israel’s Druze community has undergone the greatest change in fertility rates, falling from 4.1 children per woman in 1990 to 2.7 in 2004. The fertility in the Christian Arab community has fallen from 2.7 children per woman in 1996 to 2.2 in 2004. The fertility rate in the Muslim community has been falling since 2000. After remaining stable for 15 years, since the mid-1980s, the fertility rate in the Muslim community has declined from 4.6-4.7 children per woman to 4.4 in 2004.
The fertility rate in the Jewish community has remained at 2.6-2.7 children per woman. The lowest fertility rate was among women whose religion is not classified by the Ministry of the Interior: 1.5 children per woman in 2004. This level is slightly higher than the fertility rate of 1.3 prevalent in Eastern Europe, the countries of origin for this group.
Since the 1980s, the average age at which women have their first child has risen by two years, to 29.3 years in 2004. This trend is due to a growing tendency of women to have children in their thirties or older, rather than in their teens or twenties. The proportion of women having children in their thirties rose from 29% in 1980 to 43% in 2004.
Having children at these ages is common in many developed countries. In Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, the average age at which women have their first child rose above 30 in the mid-1990s. In Eastern Europe, women tend to have children earlier. For example, in 2002 the average age at which women have their first child was 25.3 years in Bulgaria, 26.1 in Romania, and 26.9 in Lithuania.
4,248 teenagers had children in Israel in 2004. Over 20% of these children were at least the second child. Studies in the US and UK show that children of teenage mothers are exposed to greater health risks.
Since the 1990s, the fertility rate among teenagers in Israel has fallen 23%, reaching 15.3 births per 1,000 teenagers. The prevalence of teenage pregnancy in Israel varies according to the girls’ religion. The highest fertility rate among teenagers was in the Muslim community (53.7), and the lowest was in the Christian Arab community (4.7).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 30, 2005