Survey by dating app JSwipe found 84 per cent of 18-24 year olds described their Jewish identity as important or very important and young were more likely to want Jewish wedding and have rabbi officiate
October 2, 2019 16:34
Polling by a popular Jewish dating app suggests that, contrary to popular belief, Jews who are part of Generation Z — aged 18-24 — are more likely to feel conservative on a range of Jewish issues than some of their older counterparts.
JSwipe surveyed 4,000 Jewish singles of all ages in February.
60 per cent of respondents came from the US, 9 per cent from Israel, 8 per cent from Canada and the UK respectively and the final 15 per cent from France, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
The poll found that 84 per cent of 18-24 year olds described their Jewish identity as either very important or important to them compared to 83 per cent of 55-64 year olds, 80 per cent of 25-34 year olds, and 77 per cent of 35-54 year olds.
And the younger the respondent, the more likely they were to consider having a Jewish wedding and having a rabbi officiate important.
87 per cent of 18-24 year olds said having a Jewish wedding was important, compared to 82 per cent of 25-34 year olds, 74 per cent of 35-54 year olds, and 60 per cent of 55 to 54 year olds.
84 per cent of 18-24 year olds said having a rabbi officiate was important, the three older age groups scored in the mid to low 70 per cent range.
The dating company, which was founded five years ago and now says it “proudly represents over a million users”, found that 18-24 year olds were also the least likely to consider interfaith marriages fine or positive, with just 29 per cent agreeing.
32 per cent of 25-34 year olds, 40 per cent of 35-54 year olds and 41 per cent of 55-64 year olds responded that such marriages were fine or positive.
When asked how important Israel was to their Jewish identity, 72 per cent of both 18-24 year olds and 55-64 year olds said it was either important or very important, with 66 per cent of 25-34 year olds and 34-54 year olds saying the same.
The least likely to consider Israel important were those who defined themselves as Reform or ‘Cultural’ Jews, while those most likely to see Israel as important were those who considered themselves Orthodox or Zionist.
Older people, the research showed, were more likely to believe in true love — 91 per cent of the 55-64 age group responded affirmatively to the question — which was around 10 per cent more than each of the three younger age groups surveyed.
Despite the respondents all being JSwipe users, most said they preferred to meet potential dates via a mutual friend; 89 per cent said they liked being set up, with 79 per cent saying they liked doing so via an app.
Men, at 80 per cent, were more likely to believe that they should pay for the first date than women (74 per cent), but women (71 per cent) were slightly more likely than men (67 per cent) to feel strongly that it should be the man asking the woman out on the first date.
Women were also much more likely to feel pressure to get married than men, at 59 per cent versus 43 per cent.
Men, however, were more likely than women to follow up with someone on a first date if it didn’t go well, at 48 per cent versus 32 percent.
JSwipe said that it aimed to “present the individual views, thoughts, and experiences shared in the most pure, accurate and non-biased way possible.
“While acknowledging that surveying 4,000 JSwipe users is not the same as a randomly selected sample of the Jewish population — by virtue of them being on JSwipe, they are to varying degrees more inclined to be Jewishly engaged — for us, this was more an exploration of the underlying concepts and nuances in language used to answer some of the contemporary Jewish world’s most pressing questions.”
The company also made it clear that it was “excited” about its next study, which it said would focus specifically on “the LGBTQ Jewish experience”, adding that it “celebrates and champions love in all forms.”
