According to data released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of the 2018 International Children Day, November 20, 2.908 million children (younger than 17) lived in Israel in late 2017, constituting 33.1% of the population.
In Jerusalem, children constitute close to 40% of the population, compared with only 21% in Tel Aviv and 23% in Haifa.
The city with the highest percentage of children is Modiin Ilit – 64.4%. Kiryat Yam has the fewest – 20.9%. The rural community with the highest percentage of children is Mahane Yatir, northeast of Beersheba – 67.9%, the lowest is Achva, also in the Negev – 4.3%.
Some 2,086,000 (71.8%) were Jews, 728,000 (25%) Arabs, and 94,000 (3.2%) were “others.”
The overall number of births in 2017 was 183,648, putting the overall fertility rate at 3.11 children per Israeli woman.
Some 8% of Jewish children are raised in single-parent families, with Russians single-parent families standing at 17%. Only 4% of Arab children grow in single-parent families.
In 2016, 628 women under age 17 were married, 89% of them Arab. In 2017, 333 women under age 17 gave birth – 272 Muslims and 53 Jews. For 8% of them this was not their first birth.
In 2015/16 (5776), 9,924 youths ages 12 to 18 faced criminal charges, 91.8% of whom were males.
In 2017, 28 children were killed in car accidents, 217 were critically injured, and 2,700 lightly injured, a rise of 6% compared with the previous year.
Here’s a more cheerful item: during the school year 2017/18 2,000 youths ages 12 to 17 studied in university-level academic institutions.