Reply To: Defining “The Shidduch Crisis”

Kapusta, there are two separate things – how many boys are born compared to girls (slightly more), and overall family size.

Family size is the one which affects population growth. Population growth takes place in a given population if enough children are born so that the next generation is more populated than the previous. At 5-6 kids per family in the yeshivish community, we’re well above the “replacement rate” – i.e. the average number of kids per family which would keep the succeeding generation the same size.