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An ultra-Orthodox man in Jerusalem. (Tess Schaflan) Last update - 03:33 13/01/2008 Statistics bureau reports sharp decline in Haredi birth rates By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: fertility rates, Israel  The total fertility rate in the country's ultra-Orthodox community has dropped sharply in the past several years, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The fertility rate in the Haredi community of Beitar Illit dropped from 8.9 children per woman in 2001 to 7.7 children in 2006, a decrease of 13.5 percent. In Modi'in Illit, another ultra-Orthodox community, the total fertility rate fell from 9 to 8 in the same period. Even after the drop, these communities still have the highest fertility rates in Israel. Advertisement The total fertility rate is the average number of children born to each woman in her lifetime. It is a predictor of future fertility and does not refer to the size of the average family, and is considered the single best measurement of fertility trends. This is the first time since the reduction of government child allowances that data on fertility rates in the Haredi community have been released. All previous attempts by Haaretz to obtain CBS figures on this subject in the past several years have failed. The person responsible for gathering the statistics the CBS is publishing now is the outgoing head of the Kadima party's research and policy department, Gilad Malach. As published previously in Haaretz, the fertility rate among Muslim women in Israel has also dropped dramatically, from an average of 4.7 children per woman in 2000 to just 4 in 2006. Most of this drop occurred after the large reduction in child allowances, in the summer of 2003. The cuts mainly affected the allowances for new births. The National Insurance Institute allowances for each new baby is only NIS 150 per month. The largest drop in fertility rates was recorded in the Arab sector in the southern district - in other words, among the Bedouin, where the fertility rate dropped from 9 children per woman in 2003 to 7.6 children in 2005. Malach gave Haaretz a table of CBS figures on the rates of natural increase in Haredi cities the number of births minus the number of deaths. For the new Haredi communities, which have a very low average age, it can be assumed that the mortality rate is very low. In Beitar Illit, the natural increase in 2002-2003 reached a peak of 63 per thousand, which dropped to just 52 per thousand in 2005-2006 - nearly 16 percent. In the religious and ultra-Orthodox community of Elad, the natural increase dropped from 77 per thousand to 59 per thousand in the same period. The child allowances reached their peak in 2001, when the monthly supplement for the fifth and subsequent children in a family was NIS 850 per child. A family with 10 children received NIS 6,500 in child allowances alone. Today, a family with 10 children receives only NIS 2,850 per month. Related articles: How many children does it take to be righteous? Study: Jewish births lead rise in Israeli fertility rates in 2006 Fertility rate among Israeli Arab women steadily declining Bookmark to del.icio.us   Love story Israel permits gay Palestinian to join his lover in Tel Aviv. Interfaith get-together Saudi King plans first interfaith conference to include Jews.   1.   HAREDI CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE OF ISRAEL`S STABILITY)))) 02:51  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 13/01/08   2.   I can`t believe Haaretz allowed comments here. 08:10  |  Israel_is_Done 13/01/08   3.   #1 LOUD CAPITALISED LOONEY SHOUTER VOICE)))) 08:14  |  Israel_is_Done 13/01/08   4.   #1 let there be more, but educate them for the future of Israel.. 09:11  |  Tom 13/01/08   5.   sharp drop -CUT THE SUPPORT , 09:19  |  Noam 13/01/08   6.   THERE IS HOPE YET FOR ISRAEL AFTER ALL!!! 10:01  |  B`Galil 13/01/08   7.   Good News/Bad News 11:01  |  Neil 13/01/08   8.   Birth and subsidies ?! 11:08  |  DG 13/01/08   9.   A step in the right direction 11:10  |  Tired taxpayer 13/01/08   10.   large families god help them 12:33  |  Noam 13/01/08   11.   More Charadi bashing by the secular left press. 13:18  |  A Proud Saba of 12! 13/01/08   12.   Haaretz pleas be more specific 13:29  |  Kris 13/01/08   13.   ANTIBABY PILLS NO! - VIAGRA SI! 13:31  |  Andreas Hofer 13/01/08   14.   Thank You, Bibi !!! 13:42  |  NB 13/01/08   15.   # 3 14:12  |  J. B. 13/01/08   16.   Fixing the Cult! 15:00  |  deduora 13/01/08   17.   HAREDI CHILDREN WILL BE THE DOWNFALL OF ISRAEL 15:31  |  VOICE OF REALITY 13/01/08   18.   Good news for the economy and environment 16:41  |  newageblues 13/01/08   19.   It`s the best thing that happened to them 16:45  |  Dan 13/01/08   20.   To Dan No. 19 16:57  |  Neil 13/01/08   21.   to #20 22:52  |  NB 13/01/08   22.   To the one`s before and after me. 23:14  |  Sarah 13/01/08   23.   government interference 09:42  |  Aryeh Shore 14/01/08   24.   #22, Sarah, I don`t consider my post words of hate 06:54  |  newageblues 15/01/08   25.   I AM GOING TO BREED BABY BREED! 21:41  |  Kissipoo 15/01/08   26.   H M The Queen Mother 22:52  |  Sherlock Holmes 16/01/08   27.   Proof of Israeli Tolerance and Stupidity 19:51  |  JH 26/03/08

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