Topics: Main Topic: Other, Jewish Community, Jewish Organisations, Strategic Planning, Policy, Demography, Haredi / Strictly Orthodox Jews, Care and Welfare, Health, Children, Youth, Poverty, Housing, Elderly Care, Age and Generational Issues
Abstract: At 28,075 Jewish people, Greater Manchester recorded the largest Jewish population in the UK
outside of London and adjacent Hertfordshire. At first sight, it appears to have grown by 12%
between 2011 and 2021, most likely driven largely by high birth-rates among the strictly Orthodox
community. Similarly, if the data eventually proves to be accurate, this constitutes a growth of 29%
over the twenty years between 2001 and 2021. Provisional estimates of the Haredi community
based on other data sources (such as Manchester Connections) suggest that the Haredi community
could be as large as 22,778 but, again, further analysis is needed before any firm conclusions can be
drawn. Whatever the final numbers, it is clear that Greater Manchester, which includes the largest
Eruv in the UK with a perimeter of more than 13 miles, covering parts of Prestwich, Crumpsall and
Higher Broughton, is an important and growing centre of Jewish life.
This report was commissioned by Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Regions
(GMJRC) to research and analyse community strengths and provide a mapping of Jewish
organisations in the Greater Manchester area. It was overseen by the GMJRC strategic group – a
group that was formed of Councils and organisations across the Jewish religious spectrum as a
response to the pandemic. It reviews services in seven themes: Children & Young People; Adult
Services; Older People; Health; Employment; Emergency Response; and Housing. As well as looking
at delivery, governance, leadership, and building assets, it also tries to understand where the gaps
and support needs are. As the demographics and relative sizes of the mainstream and strictly
Orthodox Jewish populations continue to change, this study represents an important examination
of both the challenges and opportunities of how the respective communities work together. As
these populations change across the UK, and beyond, the study will have significance to other cities
where these Jewish communities exist side by side.
The Institute of Jewish Policy Research (JPR) used a variety of data sources to identify organisations
delivering in each theme and built maps of that data which can be seen throughout this report.
Mobilise Public Ltd use several methods to gather data from these organisations in each theme.
The main approach was qualitative, using stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions with a
purposely selected sample of these organisations, and the evidence collected was supplemented
with a short survey which was issued to a larger number of organisations. The research was
coproduced with a subset of the strategic group through a series of facilitated sessions and was
designed to build a good understanding of delivery in each theme as well as an understanding of
challenges and opportunities in readiness for the strategic group to develop a more integrated
strategy for the Greater Manchester Jewish community
Abstract: There has been a Jewish community in Greater Manchester since the early 19th
Century. Greater numbers of people migrated to the area during and after the
Second World War when refugees and survivors of the Holocaust settled in a number
of the boroughs. Indeed, the largest Orthodox Jewish community outside London is
situated within the boundaries of Salford, Bury and Manchester. The overall aim of
this study was to provide an assessment of the housing needs of Jewish
communities in Greater Manchester.
In particular, the study aimed to do the following:
o Map population change, household sizes, ages and the location, size and
types of housing occupied by Jewish households;
o Examine whether there has been significant movement of the Jewish
community (domestically and internationally);
o Identify a range of demographic trends amongst the sample population,
including housing circumstances and characteristics; economic activity, age,
employment, education / study, membership of a synagogue and the particular
denomination;
o Identify any housing needs relating to health, disability, age of the individual,
condition of the property, security of tenure, appropriateness of location,
proximity of the property to a place of worship, community infrastructure and
retail provision;
o Explore economic circumstances and housing costs, particularly in relation to
the financial capacity of the household and whether housing costs are being
met, whether the household has any affordability issues relating to its housing
needs now and in the future, and what barriers exist to specific housing
products such as affordable housing;
o Identify housing expectations, looking specifically at the type, tenure, location
and size of housing the household might expect in the short term future at
intervals of 5 years and 10 years;
o Explore future aspirations, focusing on longer term needs and aspirations of
the household including need arising from childbirth, aging; needs related to
health, disability or other factors over the next 5 years and the next 10 years;
o Assess the extent to which lifestyle, level of practice of religion or other
reasons motivate or demotivate household movement;
o Assess whether the existing home meets the current needs including religious
and cultural needs; and
o Measure the level of community cohesion with the wider community in
Manchester and measure the extent of anti-social behaviour, harassment,
incidence and fear of crime.
The study was commissioned by Manchester Jewish Housing Association in
December 2010 and was conducted by a team of researchers from the Salford
Housing & Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) at the University of Salford. The study was
greatly aided by research support from a number of community interviewers and was
managed by a steering group composed of representatives of Manchester Jewish
Housing Association, Bury Council, Manchester City Council and Salford City
Council.
Abstract: In May 2007 JPR launched Jews in Britain: A Snapshot from the 2001 Census, which was given extensive coverage in the national and international media and the Jewish press. It laid bare the complexity of the Jewish population and demolished several popular myths: ‘the Jewish nuclear family, the homogenous Jewish household, the Jewish housewife, the married Jewish couple or the universally successful and prosperous citizen.’
Over 120 pages long, the report covers a wide range of subjects, including the nature of Jewish partnerships, intermarriage, living standards, social inequality, ethnicity, educational standards and many other demographic issues. ‘Our understanding of the British Jewish population has been revolutionized’, concluded the authors of JPR's comprehensive analysis of the data on Jews derived from answers to the first ever voluntary question on religion in the 2001 Census. ‘The results have been truly fascinating and mould-breaking.’ A debate has now been started which, JPR hopes, will provoke an extensive and much-needed examination into the nature of the Jewish community in Britain and its future needs.
