For the first time ever, the amount of babies born to Lakewood mothers in one year crossed the 5,000 mark, according to newly released data.
A total of 5,261 children were born in Lakewood, the state’s fastest growing municipality, in 2021 – a 7.1% increase over 2020, when 4,913 children were born in the township.
Although the data cannot be broken down by religion, they can be sorted by race.
Of the 5,263 children born in Lakewood, 4,908 were to mothers who identify as white and non-Hispanic – up from the 4,503 born to the same demographic in 2020.
According to the information, of the 5,251 students ages K-12 currently enrolled in the Lakewood Public School system, only 6% are white, non Hispanic.
The data also shows, as first revealed by TLS last year, that the ratio of boys to girls continues to outpace global trends, though it did slow down slightly in 2021.
Included in the 4,908 white, non Hispanic children born in Lakewood, were 2,530 boys and 2,378 girls – 152 more boys than girls.
For every single year for the past 31 years, there have been more boys being born to the Jewish community in Lakewood than girls, leading many to point out that the “age-gap” issue when it comes to Shidduchim may seem to be correcting itself.
According to those opposed to the “age gap” theory, if a few hundred more boys than girls are born each year, that means that there will be around as many 22-year-old boys “on the market” as there are girls who are 19 and “on the market.”
A response to that argument was published last year on TLS and can be read here.
(NOTE: TLS is in no way taking a position one way or the other when it comes to the “Shidduch Crisis.” TLS is simply presenting the data, and if readers would like to extrapolate statistics in favor of their position, they are welcomed and encouraged to respectfully reply in the comment section.)
“Correcting itself”???
Um, did we chas V’shalom forget about the One Above who does this?
It is no secret that there is and has always been a slightly larger birthrate of boys than girls approximately 51 to 49% Nothing has changed in this regard so nothing is correcting itself. Despite this small extra amount of boys we have unfortunately figured out how to marry the boys off so late as to remove any benefit and then some. This story is a complete nothingburger. As long as boys continue to marry much older than the girls the problem will continue in perpetuity. And please stop blaming the one above who told us to marry early.
Looks like we are the majority so where are all the tax dollars going ? we pay one of the highest in the nation.
Are 5% of Lakewood children going to public school and 95% who are legal tax payers to private schools.
I have one question where are our politicians that promise to benefit our community????
Ask your holier than thou Vaad. They are the spokes mouth.
As a non-Orthodox from a neighboring town, we are well aware of Lakewood’s birth rate and the dozens and dozens of schools that will need to be built in the decades to come so they can get a good Jewish education. We hope your community (in collaboration with the non-Orthodox) will go to the state of NJ and look at fixing the school funding formula so that the local school systems (your community is expanding at break neck speed into many local towns) will not be the next Lakewood School system. It simply is not sustainable.
I see this firsthand. My friend’s babysitting group had only 2 girls last year. This year it’s all boys.
Um, before these babies will be ready for shidduchim, they will need to go to school.
Are we doing anything to prepare for the challenge of educating 5000 children in our system in 5 years from now (not even including kids from surrounding towns)?
Good Holy Gosh. Writing “the shidduch crisis might correct itself” is beyond moronic.
For too many reasons to list.
THERE IS NO SHIDDUCH CRISES
Hashem already setup your sons and everyone else’s son/daughter zivug 40 days before they were even born. Forget about the fact that now they are holding at around 20 or so years later since they were born. Hashem has their zivug waiting for them and can send it to your son/daughter immediately but is just waiting for each person involved in shidduchim to do their RUCHNIUS hishtadlus of Bitachon and Emunah(faith and trust in Hashem) together with Tefillos/Prayers.
Are YOU doing your RUCHNIUS hishtadlus? Not just your gashmius hishtadlus of dating and speaking to shadchanim etc….?
Start turning directly to Hashem for help in all your needs, especially shidduchim that they say is a bigger miracle than the splitting of the Yam suf.
The birth rate of boys is typically higher than that of girls. This is a global statistic nothing to do with Lakewood. the shidduch crisis is not correcting itself. But TLS’s article on shadchanim by wedings is a good thing.
Ken Yirbo! Meanwhile the rest of the world is in a self-inflicted infant crisis.
this shows that the whole age gap theory is false.
What?
First of all maybe it’s by the heimish and chasidish, so maybe the litvish have more gls also maybe we should educate theitvish to be able to marry chasidish as they don’t seem to have SHIDUCH crisis.
The age gap is only a small part of the Shidduch crisis. A much bigger part is the fact that in a class of, say, 25 girls, 20 of them want a serious, long-term learner while in a class of 25 boys only 10 ARE serious, long-term learners.
Our problem is the learner gap; not the age gap.
Also, if it’s age gap, why are there hundreds of single boys, over 25, in BMG and other local Yeshivas ?!
And despite this statistic, we can’t get RWJ Barnabas health to invest in a proper maternity ward and Nicu.
What a shame!