The Pew Research Center has released the data from new survey of religious and non-religious Jews. They find that almost a quarter of Jews (22 percent) describe themselves as being “atheist,” “agnostic,” or “nothing in particular.” The percentage of Jews of no religion correlates with age, such that younger generations are much more likely to be unaffiliated. Nearly a third of Millennials with Jewish ancestry say they have no religion (32 percent), compared to 19 percent of Boomers and seven percent of the Greatest Generation.
A majority of Jews with no religion marry non-Jews (79 percent); 67 percent have decided against raising their children with the religion.
As a result of intermarriage, the percent of all Jews who have only one Jewish parent is rising. While 92 percent of people born between 1914 and 1927 had two Jewish parents, Millennials are as likely as not to have just had one.
This post originally appeared on Sociological Images, a Pacific Standard partner site.
