Abstract

This qualitative study is an examination of the attitudes of national religious Jewish Israeli mothers toward their daughters’ singlehood. The daughters were in their mid to late twenties, when the religious and social expectation is that they be married. The study is designed to explore the main issues faced by the mothers, including perceived difficulties and advantages of their daughters' unmarried status. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 middle-class mothers, whose responses underwent content analysis and revealed a combination of traditional ideas with modern, liberal, and feminist values: internal and external concerns on behalf of the mothers, together with listing advantages and mothers supporting the daughters not to rush into marriage. The findings reveal that confronting social expectations means coping with the old norms while being aware of new possibilities and opportunities. Limitations of the study are discussed.

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