A new study by the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research finds that haredi families living in Israel’s periphery live differently than those residing in the country’s center. They spend more on transportation and communications, they own more cars and televisions - and they also have fewer children.
The study, authored by Dr. Pavel Jelnov, shows that the growing migration of haredi families from central Israel to the periphery is not merely a response to the housing crisis. Rather, it is a process that reflects differences in family life patterns in concrete ways - from household spending and mobility patterns to car ownership and, ultimately, to fertility decisions.
Dr. Jelnov finds that haredi households headed by individuals aged 30-39 who live in the periphery have an average of 3.9 children. This compares with 4.8 children among similar households in central Israel - a gap of nearly one full child per family.
This finding is particularly significant given the rapid increase in the share of haredi households residing in the periphery, which nearly doubled within four years, from 5.4% in 2015 to 9.4% in 2019 - indicating an accelerated migration trend from the center to peripheral localities.
One of the most notable findings of the Shoresh study is the link between car ownership and fertility. Among haredi households headed by individuals aged 18-24, families that own a car have, on average, 0.6 fewer children than comparable households without a car.
Among older households, the gap is even larger. Haredi families aged 35-39 owning a car have approximately 1.2 fewer children on average than those without one. Car ownership is significantly more prevalent among haredi households in the periphery than in central Israel - a pattern that reinforces the link between mobility, lifestyle, and family size.
This shift is also reflected in other indicators of daily life. Among haredi households aged 30-39, 6.9% own a television in the periphery, compared with just 1.5% in central Israel. This finding further underscores that the move to the periphery is linked to differences in everyday practices, beyond mobility alone.
The Shoresh study shows that while housing costs are lower in the periphery, haredi households spend more on other components of daily life - most notably on transportation and communications.
Among young haredi adults aged 18-29, the average monthly per-capita expenditure on transportation and communications in the periphery is 1,483 shekels, compared with 1,107 shekels in central Israel. Among those aged 40 and over, the gap widens further: 2,134 shekels in the periphery versus 1,589 shekels in the center.
At the same time, average monthly income per capita of haredi households in the periphery is lower - approximately 3,500-3,700 shekels, compared with 4,300-4,500 shekels in central Israel. However, housing expenditures in the periphery are 30%-40% lower, which mitigates part of the gap and enables higher savings rates. Among households aged 30-39, average monthly savings are 1,490 shekels in the periphery, compared with 1,209 shekels in the center, with even larger differences among households aged 40 and above.
The Shoresh study also finds that haredi women living in the periphery are more educated than their counterparts in central Israel. Approximately 41% of haredi women aged 18-39 in the periphery hold a matriculation certificate or an academic degree, compared with 34% in central Israel. Although these rates remain substantially lower than those among non-haredi Jewish women, the internal pattern within haredi society runs in the opposite direction: higher educational attainment among women is more common in the periphery than in the center. This suggests that migration to the periphery disproportionately involves families in which women have higher levels of education - shaping employment opportunities, lifestyle choices, and household organization.
Prof. Dan Ben-David, President of the Shoresh Institution, said: “This study shows that decisions regarding housing and population dispersal are not merely technical. Even within haredi society, the living conditions that emerge in the periphery - geographic distance, mobility, transportation, and the cost of daily life - have a tangible impact on family structure and fertility. Policymakers must take these processes into account when shaping housing and transportation policy, as these decisions influence long-term social and demographic trends."