jpr / report                  No. 1 2003

3/ A profile of Jewish parents by geographical location

The previous section outlined the characteristics and attitudes towards education of Jewish parents of school-age children living anywhere in the sampled areas of Greater London and the South-east. Inevitably, this picture is weighted towards the views of those living in Outer North-west London because more than half of the respondents came from this location. Nevertheless, London Jews are homogeneous in neither their economic and social characteristics nor their attitudes towards Jewish and general education. Because school education is still a place-based service, teasing out the differences between parents living in different geographical locations is of crucial importance to community and government planners. This section focuses on characteristics and attitudes towards Jewish secondary school education of parents living in three distinct geographical sectors of Greater London and the South-east: Outer North-west London, Inner North-west London and North-east London.

Figure 11: Areas sampled in Outer NW, Inner NW and NE London

The Outer North-west area (n=443) includes places such as Borehamwood, Edgware, Radlett, Stanmore and Totteridge. This is the potential catchment area for any secondary school located in South Hertfordshire. Of this sample, 337 were living within the Greater London boundary and 106 were in South Hertfordshire. The Inner North-west area (n=225) includes Hampstead and Highgate, Holland Park and St John’s Wood. The North-east area (n=115) covers Redbridge and South Essex (see Figure 11). Note that South London is not included in this breakdown because the response rate from parents in this area was too low to allow meaningful conclusions to be drawn. The response from North-east London was large enough to extrapolate some measure of this population, but the relatively low number of respondents means that the findings for this area are indicative rather than definitive. The number of responses from Outer North-west and Inner North-west London was large and robust enough to establish an effective profile of these populations and to gauge their attitudes towards education and schooling. Nevertheless, as with all samples, it is impossible to ascertain the views of those who decided not to respond to the survey, whose ‘voices’ remain unheard. However, it might reasonably be assumed that those who responded are more likely to be interested in communal Jewish affairs than those who failed to return their questionnaires and thus may be more likely to respond to appropriate community initiatives.

In terms of the current and recent primary schools attended by the children of the respondent parents, those in Inner North-west London were by far the most likely to choose general independent schools (twice as many opted for these than in Outer North-west London and three times more than in North-east London). In contrast, around a third of parents in Outer North-west and North-east London opted for Jewish state schools, compared with only 7 per cent in the Inner North-west sector (see Table 13).

Table 13: Current educational choices of Jewish parents at primary level, by geographical location

At secondary level the picture is similar, although here there was far more likelihood of parents from each of the geographical locations choosing a combination of schools for their children (see Table 14). Nevertheless, of those who did stick to one type of schooling, parents from Inner North-west London were the most likely to choose independent general schools for their children, while those in the other two areas typically opted for Jewish state-sector secondary schools (most likely King Solomon for those in the North-east and JFS or Hasmonean for those in the Outer North-west). How the move and enlargement of JFS (formerly known as the Jews’ Free School) from Camden in Central London to Kenton in Outer North-west London will affect this picture is not known; the questionnaire for this survey was sent out in February 2002, before the move took place.

Table 15 shows how the overall take-up of either state or independent options (i.e. excluding those who chose a combination of schools) was highly determined by geographical location. Only a quarter of parents in Inner North-west London sent their children to state schools, compared with over three-quarters of parents in North-east London. As Figure 12 shows, this pattern parallels income levels, with those parents in Inner North-west London the most likely to be able to afford the often-considerable costs of private education.

Figure 12: Annual household income, by geographical location

Table 14: Current educational choices of Jewish parents at secondary level, by geographical location

Table 15: Proportion of Jewish parents opting for either state or independent schooling, by geographical location

Table 16 highlights the geographically contingent nature of the decision to opt for either Jewish or general schooling. At both primary and secondary levels, around half of parents in North-east London opted for Jewish schools. In Outer North-west London just under half chose Jewish schools at primary level and two-fifths at secondary level. In Inner North-west London the take-up of Jewish education was markedly lower, with only a quarter choosing Jewish schools at primary level and only 1 in 6 at secondary level. The very low take-up of formal Jewish education in Inner North-west 24 Planning for Jewish communities London suggests, on the one hand, a possible market for a Jewish-oriented secondary school. However, on the other hand, the very low take-up of state schooling highlights how parents here have the financial means to choose between different schools, and thus any Jewish school would have to survive in a highly competitive marketplace.

Table 16: Proportion of Jewish parents opting for either Jewish or general schooling, by geographical location

Socio-economic characteristics

In terms of household size and number of children, the three areas showed no statistical differences. With regard to marital status, the differences were also small, although parents in Outer North-west London had slightly lower rates of divorce or separation (5 per cent) than those in Inner North-west (9 per cent) and North-east London (7 per cent). However, economic status did vary greatly between the three sectors, with parents in Inner North-west London considerably wealthier than those in North-east London. Indeed, almost 80 per cent of those sampled in Inner North-west London had a combined household income greater than £75,000, compared with just over 50 per cent in Outer North-west London and only 15 per cent in North-east London (see Figure 12). Similarly, as regards general education, parents in Inner North-west London were almost twice as likely to have had at least a first university degree (68 per cent) compared with those in North-East London (37 per cent), while those in Outer North-west London were in between (although still highly educated), with 52 per cent having such a qualification.

Jewish attitudes, practices and upbringing

The Jewish upbringing of parents living in the three areas showed little variation, although those living in North-east London were slightly more likely to have had a ‘just Jewish’ childhood and less likely to have been brought up Orthodox. Similarly, parents from the different geographical locations showed relatively little variation in their own Jewish education, although those in Outer North-west London were slightly more likely to have been to a Jewish primary school (24 per cent) compared with respondents in Inner North-west London (21 per cent) and North-east London (19 per cent). At secondary level the pattern was more pronounced, with 21 per cent in Outer North-west London having attended a Jewish school as opposed to 16 per cent in Inner North-west London and only 10 per cent in North-east London.

While Jews across London seemed to have grown up in a similar range of backgrounds (primarily ‘traditional’, but also sizeable percentages of Progressive, ‘just Jewish’, non-practising and Orthodox), current practices were notably different. Across a whole range of indicators, Jews in Outer North-west London showed greater levels of attachment to traditional and Orthodox Jewish ways of life than those in Inner North-west and especially North-east London. This said, the vast majority of Jews across the three areas still performed many traditional Jewish practices, but they were not overly committed to following more exacting Orthodox requirements.

Seventy-eight per cent of respondents in Outer North-west London fasted every Yom Kippur; 74 per cent in Inner North-west London and only 48 per cent in North-east London. Similarly, only 11 per cent of Jews in Outer North-west London said that they would eat pork products at home, while the figure was 16 per cent in Inner North-west London and 23 per cent in North-east London. The majority of Jews described themselves as equally conscious of being Jewish and having other aspects to their life. However, almost two-fifths of those in Outer North-west London described themselves as extremely conscious of being Jewish, compared with less than a third in North-east London. When it came to travelling on the Sabbath, however, most Jews were willing to break this Orthodox prohibition (see Table 17).

Table 17: Willingness to travel on the Sabbath, by geographical location

These variations are reflected in two further indicator tests that are worth noting. Table 18, which shows current Jewish practice, demonstrates that most Jewish parents across the three sectors described themselves as traditional, although those in Outer North-west London were more likely to be Orthodox and less likely to be Reform/ Progressive, ‘just Jewish’ or non-practising than those in North-east London. Table 19 shows that Jewish parents across North London were most likely to be members of traditional, United Synagogue-style synagogues, although those in North-east London were more likely to be members of Progressive synagogues than parents in the other two areas. Note that the proportion of Jews who were members of Liberal/Reform synagogues in North-east London was at odds with known membership rates in this area and indeed with the profile of the non-parent population in the rest of the Greater London and South-east sample. This may reflect a higher proportion of Liberal/Reform synagogue membership among younger members of the North-east London Jewish community. However, it is more likely to indicate sampling bias associated with the relatively low number of respondents in this sector.

Table 18: Current Jewish practice, by geographical location

Table 19: Synagogue membership, by geographical location

Attitudes towards Jewish secondary school education

As the previous section of this report detailed, parents were, in general, concerned that their children had some formal Jewish education. Figure 13 shows this data for all Jewish parents living in the three sectors, and indicates that parents in Outer North-west London had the strongest support for this concept.

Figure 13: ‘Some formal Jewish education is important’

As regards attitudes towards Jewish secondary school education, responses to the battery of questions asked of respondents revealed little diversity between the three sectors. For Outer North-west London the statement that elicited most agreement was that non-Jewish schools would be fine if there were sufficient Jewish pupils; more than half agreed or strongly agreed with this statement, while only a quarter disagreed in any way. Over half of these parents also agreed or strongly agreed with the idea that attending a Jewish secondary school would be fine if it had a secular cultural outlook (although just 5 per cent strongly agreed) and only a fifth rejected this statement (see further discussion on this later). The statements attracting least support were that Jewish children should attend Jewish schools irrespective of cost (17 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with this statement) and that it would be fine for children to attend a non-Jewish secondary school if they had previously been to a Jewish primary school (22 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with this) (see Table 20).

Table 20: Attitudes towards Jewish secondary education among parents in Outer NW London

As was the case with respondents living further out, parents in Inner North-west London registered the strongest support for the idea that non-Jewish secondary schools would be fine if they had sufficient Jewish pupils (almost two-thirds agreed or strongly agreed with this and less than a fifth disagreed or strongly disagreed). Support was also expressed for Jewish schools with a secular cultural outlook; more than half agreed in some way with this, although only 7 per cent strongly agreed. Parents in this sector also had little sympathy with the idea that Jewish children should attend a Jewish school irrespective of cost (6 per cent agreed or strongly agreed) and that a non-Jewish secondary school would be fine if a child had attended a Jewish primary first (see Table 21).

Table 21: Attitudes towards Jewish secondary education among parents in Inner NW London

The pattern in North-east London again showed little variation from that reported in the other two sectors. The statements that gained most support were, once again, that non-Jewish secondary schools were fine if there were enough Jewish pupils and that attending a Jewish school would be fine if it had a secular cultural outlook (see Table 22).

Table 22: Attitudes towards Jewish secondary education among parents in NE London

Finally, only those parents with children aged 11–25 (i.e. whose children were attending or had recently attended secondary schools) were asked how a series of potential factors had influenced their decision-making. In Outer North-west London 228 parents had children of this age; in Inner North-west London the figure was 119, but in North-east London the number of respondents was too low to draw meaningful conclusions. Nevertheless, from a policy perspective, there is a realistic possibility of constructing a new secondary school with a Jewish ethos only in either Outer or Inner North-west London.

Table 23 shows the views of parents living in Outer North-west London, and here the importance of quality of teaching was paramount; only 3 per cent believed that this was not an important factor when choosing a secondary school. Second was school ethos (94 per cent believed this was important or very important) and third was the number of other Jewish children attending (25 per cent stated that this was very important and 49 per cent important). The message from this data is therefore clear in its support for schools (either Jewish or general) that have sizeable numbers of Jewish children and are capable of providing a high quality of education. Interestingly, geographical location and the multicultural nature of the pupil body were given less emphasis, although 63 per cent viewed the former, and 42 per cent of the latter, as important or very important.

Table 23: Factors influencing choice of secondary education among parents in Outer NW London

In Inner North-west London the support for schools with a high quality of education and a strong school ethos was stated even more emphatically than in Outer North-west London. Third on the list was what parents had heard about schools from their friends (80 per cent thought this important or very important). Very few parents thought that the multicultural nature of the school body was very important (8 per cent), although most considered it important (55 per cent). The impact of fees was given relatively little prominence, perhaps reflecting the affluence of parents in this area (see Table 24).

Table 24: Factors influencing choice of secondary education among parents in Inner NW London

Potential for innovation?

The responses recorded in Tables 20–2 show the strength of agreement and disagreement for a series of statements about Jewish and non-Jewish schooling. All but one of these statements relate to choices available to parents and were designed to gauge attitudes to current forms of provision. However, the question as to whether or not parents agreed with the statement that ‘a Jewish secondary school would be fine if it had a secular cultural outlook’ relates to a type of schooling not currently provided in the United Kingdom. It was asked as a speculative question to gauge parental attitudes to options not currently available; all Jewish schools in this country are under the auspices of one or more of the synagogue bodies, and thus have (nominally at least) an Orthodox or Progressive religious educational approach. While the ethos of Jewish schools varies widely, no institution is currently designed to be secular cultural. Such schools do exist in Argentina, Canada and Israel, and emphasize language, culture and traditions rather than a particular religious approach. When asked about their views on such a school, around half of parents in all three geographical sectors agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that these schools would be fine (and between only 5 and 8 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed).

The following part of the report presents a profile of parents in both Outer North-west and Inner North-west London who stated that they agreed or strongly agreed with the idea of a secular cultural Jewish school. This profile is contrasted with the rest of the parents in these two sectors, who disagreed with the notion, were unable to give an opinion or (the vast majority) stated that they neither agreed nor disagreed. This last group of parents can arguably also be seen as potential clients of a secular cultural Jewish school since they did not reject such an option, although they did not record support for it either. However, they may equally well have had no strong feelings about such a school, may have considered this type of education fine for other people’s children but not their own, or perhaps have had no reference to express their support or otherwise because no such institution currently exists in this country. This final point is important to stress. The responses recorded in the following tables relate to a hypothetical situation in the United Kingdom. Parents were unlikely to have any personal experience of secular cultural schools and thus their opinions were not based on any direct evidence. Nonetheless, the high response rate (less than 2 per cent did not answer this question) indicates that parents did want to register an opinion and suggests the need for further investigation in this area.

Outer North-west London

Parents in Outer North-west London who agreed or strongly agreed with the idea of a secular cultural school (n=215) had an income profile that is almost identical to the other parents in the sector (n=221¹⁹ ). Nevertheless, supporters of these schools were less likely to follow Orthodox practices than the rest of the sector’s parents, and were more likely to consider themselves to be traditionally Jewish.

Of parents supporting secular cultural schools, 26 per cent had been to a Jewish primary school when they themselves were children (compared with 23 per cent for the rest) and 21 per cent had been to a secondary school (the same as the rest of the sector). Every year on Yom Kippur 74 per cent always fasted (compared with 81 per cent) and only 15 per cent never travelled on the Sabbath (compared with 28 per cent). This pattern was repeated when respondents were asked to describe their current Jewish practice. This highlights how those who supported such a concept were very likely to consider themselves ‘traditional’ (54 per cent), Reform/Progressive (17 per cent) or ‘just Jewish’ (14 per cent). In contrast, those who did not register their support were more than twice as likely to be Orthodox or Haredi (see Table 25).

Table 25: Current Jewish practice in Outer NW London, by support for secular cultural Jewish schools

This profile is confirmed by analysing two of the questions asked about Jewish education. When asked whether some formal Jewish education was important, around 9 in 10 of both sets of parents agreed or strongly agreed that it was. Nevertheless, those who supported secular cultural Jewish schools were less likely to state they strongly agreed with this idea (40 per cent) compared with the rest of the parent sample in this sector (48 per cent). When asked whether they thought Jewish day school education insulated children from the real world, 48 per cent of secular cultural Jewish school supporters agreed or strongly agreed that it did, compared with 41 per cent of the rest of the sample. Finally, it is important to note that 54 per cent of those who agreed with the idea of a secular cultural Jewish school were not currently sending their children to Jewish schools (the figure for the rest of the sample was 47 per cent). This suggests that a sizeable proportion of Jews in Outer North-west London who were not currently educating their children in Jewish schools might, under the right circumstances, be persuaded about the merits of this type of education.

Inner North-west London

In Inner North-west London, 108 parents stated that they agreed or strongly agreed with the idea of secular cultural Jewish schools and 92 did not. This relatively low number of respondents means that the following analysis is less reliable than that for Outer North-west London, but the data are still included as a guide to parental characteristics and attitudes. Those who supported the idea of a secular cultural Jewish school had lower household incomes than the rest of the parents in this sector; 54 per cent of the former earned £100,000 or more, compared with 74 per cent of the latter group. In terms of their Jewish characteristics, supporters of secular cultural schools were more likely to have been educated in a Jewish school themselves and to follow traditional practices at home.

When asked about their own education as a child, 25 per cent of secular cultural school supporters had attended a Jewish primary school and 18 per cent a Jewish secondary school. The respective figures for the rest of the parents in the sector were 19 per cent and 13 per cent. Similarly, 78 per cent of secular cultural supporters fasted every year on Yom Kippur and 14 per cent never travelled on the Sabbath, compared with figures of 70 per cent and 15 per cent for the rest of the sample. When asked about their current Jewish practices, the first group of parents were slightly more likely to describe themselves as ‘traditional’ (50 per cent) compared with the second group (45 per cent), although there was a slightly higher proportion in this latter group who described themselves as Orthodox or Haredi (see Table 26).

Table 26: Current Jewish practice in Inner NW London, by support for secular cultural Jewish schools

On the question of whether or not some formal Jewish education was important, 92 per cent of those supporting the idea of secular cultural schools agreed or strongly agreed that it was, with the figure for the rest of the sample being 83 per cent. In terms of whether or not Jewish day school education insulated children from the real world, 46 per cent from the first group agreed that it did, compared with 48 per cent from the second. When asked to record the type of education their children were currently receiving, 69 per cent of those who supported the notion of a secular cultural school were not opting for Jewish schools, with the figure for the rest of the parents in the sector being 73 per cent. This again indicates that a school with a non-denominational ethos could draw in children from families who may not otherwise consider education in a Jewish day school.


Notes

19 Excludes those parents who did not answer the question.

home