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The shidduch crisis is a phenomenon in the Orthodox Jewish community whereby eligible single persons, especially women or Sephardim, have difficulty finding a suitable spouse, or a shidduch. [1] [2] [3] There is some debate about the severity of the crisis and whether it is a recent development or a long-extant issue. [4]
Several causes have been cited for the shidduch crisis, but it is most commonly attributed to the average age gap between Orthodox Jewish women and men when they marry. [5] Some members of the community dispute this as the root cause. [6] [7] [8] Several initiatives in various Orthodox Jewish communities exist to close the age gap by offering rewards for shadchanim who make matches between men with women of approximately the same age. [9]
Other possible causes include the increased scrutiny placed on eligible women [10] and the shidduch system in general. [11]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, prolonged lockdown, and popularisation of mobile apps and online video calls, in-person dating and meeting new people became more challenging. [12] In these circumstances, the internet-based shidduch regained its popularity not only among Orthodox Jews, but also among non-religious Jews. [13] [14] [15] [16] This new dynamic has been referred to as "the Shidduch Revolution". [17]
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