World
A quarter of US Jews no longer practise Judaism as adults, new survey finds
But compared to some other faiths, Judaism retains a high retention rate
March 27, 2025 15:33
But compared to some other faiths, Judaism retains a high retention rate
March 27, 2025 15:33A quarter of US Jews raised religiously as Jewish no longer identify with Judaism, according to a new global survey.
But by contrast, almost all Israeli Jews retain a connection with the religion of their childhood – 100 per cent when rounded up to the nearest figure.
The survey on people switching religion, which was carried out in 36 countries by the US-based Pew Centre, found that Christianity and Buddhism suffered the biggest loss of adherents.
However, Judaism in both the US and Israel recorded a “high” retention rate in both Israel and the U.S, the survey reported.
Israel had one of the lowest switching rates of any country with only one per cent of its population no longer identifying with the religion of their youth.
In the United States, 76 per cent of those brought up as Jewish remained so as adults. Seven per cent identified with other religions, while 17 per cent described themselves as religiously unaffiliated.
But some Jews who no longer practise religiously might still consider themselves Jewish in terms of ethnicity or culture.
Christianity retained the allegiance of 73 per cent of those raised in it in the US, with 23 per cent moving away from religion and four per cent adopting other faiths.
Islam fared slightly better in the US with 77 per cent of those who grew up in the religion identifying with it, while 10 per cent switched to other religions and 13 per cent became non-religious.
Twenty per cent of currently practising US Muslims converted from other religions or were religiously unaffiliated.
Around one in seven religiously practising US Jews – 14 per cent – were either unaffiliated or grew up in another religion. In Israel, just one per cent of practising Jews were previously religiously unaffiliated.
In the UK, 58 per cent of those raised as Christian were still practising it as adults. (The Jewish population was too small, for the survey purposes.)