Single-parent families account for only 6% of nation's households

Family Day statistics show vast majority of couples married; Arab families have many more children.

By ELIE LESHEM
jerusalem arabs check caption 248 88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
jerusalem arabs check caption 248 88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Only 6 percent of Israeli families were headed by a single parent in 2007, slightly less than half the proportion in the US, according to a report released by the Central Bureau of Statistics for Family Day, which was marked on Tuesday. Ninety-four percent of single parents were women, and the number of single mothers who had never been married grew from 8,400 in 2000 to 12,900 in 2007, a 54% increase. The vast majority (96.6%) of the couples living together in Israel in 2007 were married, in contrast to countries such as Finland, where unmarried couples constitute 24% of the population. There were 1.69 million family units in Israel in 2007, with the average household numbering 3.7 members. About half of the family units consisted of two parents and at least one child under the age of 17. Some 1.38 million households were headed by Jewish parents, and 273,000 by Arabs. Jewish families were generally smaller, with an average of 3.5 members, as opposed to 4.9 in Arab households. The Arab population had a bigger share of large families, with 36% numbering six members or more, as opposed to only 10% of the Jewish families. Consequently, families with four or more children under the age of 17 were twice as common among Arabs. According to the statistics, 2007 continued the trend of Israeli homes becoming less crowded. More than half of the households had more rooms than family members. The average Israeli family spent NIS 11,584 per month on services and commodities in 2007, up 3.5% from 2006. Eighty percent of families with children owned computers, as opposed to only 58.8% of childless households.