Orthodox-Jewish Life Costs an Extra $18,000 a Year

Adhering to a Jewish lifestyle in the UK adds almost £13,000 ($18,000) to the cost of living when the price of religious necessities such as kosher food and synagogue membership are tallied up, reports The Jewish Chronicle:

Andrea Silberman, an economist at the Treasury, and Anthony Tricot, a consultant for Ernst and Young and a former government economist, created the “Kosher Chicken Index” – what they define as a basket of goods reflecting products that Jews are likely to buy in order to lead a Jewish lifestyle.

They found that observant Jewish life comes at a £12,700 premium. The findings were first published in the Jewish Chronicle.

There are estimated to be roughly 284,000 Jews in the UK, according to Institute for Jewish Policy Research, around half of whom belong to the Orthodox community.

The report found that kosher meat tends to cost twice as much as regular supermarket meat, although the premium ranges from 8pc for diced beef to 250pc for filleted chicken thighs.

More observant Jews who make sure all their food products are certified kosher, not just meats, will rack up an ever higher bill.

“Staples like milk and eggs cost 10-20pc more if kosher, while kosher baked beans and pizzas are double the equivalent non-kosher price,” the researchers found, comparing produce at Golders Green supermarket Kosher Kingdom and Tesco. “A humble pack of ginger biscuits cost eight times more.”

Click here to continue reading at The Jewish Chronicle.

One Comment

  • Funny

    As that doesn’t seem to even include children’s school tuition, us blokes here in the USA pay. We can only dream of an only $18,000 disparity!