Low-Income Americans are the Most Charitable Americans

categories: Activism, Culture of Poverty, Inequality, Race Ethnicity Class & Gender

Published May 31, 2009 @ 01:00PM PT

Suddenly this lapsed Catholic is feeling her CCD education come rushing back:

...America's poor donate more, in percentage terms, than higher-income groups do, surveys of charitable giving show. What's more, their generosity declines less in hard times than the generosity of richer givers does.

...the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest survey of consumer expenditure found that the poorest fifth of America's households contributed an average of 4.3 percent of their incomes to charitable organizations in 2007. The richest fifth gave at less than half that rate, 2.1 percent.

We're talking people who make less than $11k per year versus over $150k per year. And these charitable rates don't count remittances to immigrants' home countries. The middle-class, what's left of it, is also less generous than the lowest-income Americans.

The article suggests that the poor are helping one another - their friends and family and neighbors - weather hardship. I take this as yet another indication of the insipient nature of class segregation in this country; apparently we don't help one another unless we know one another? And it's pretty easy to ignore the poor if you neither live near or work with them.

The whole piece is worth reading. It talks about the potential influence of religion, as well as the fact that the poor generally don't earn enough to even benefit from a tax deduction for their generosity. "In effect, giving a dollar to charity costs poor people a dollar while it costs deduction itemizers 65 cents."

Last night I watched this couple spend $500,000 on a wedding that they considered green because they used recycled materials for some things, never mind the 3 rooms full of lighting, the enormous quantities of food, and the transportation costs associated with Italian organic fabrics. That ain't green, and "trickle down" - we learn again - is clearly not an anti-poverty strategy.

(Photo titled "charity muggers" by satguru, with the following caption: "Luckily these two were too busy chatting to try and accost me. I prefer to decide when and who I give to charity, thank you.")

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Comments (3)

YIKES! $500k on a wedding (that has a 50% chance of survival).

I've repeatedly experienced the generosity of the "have-nots" in proportion to the "haves."

Speaking of "haves," see my post tomorrow morning for a disturbing myth-buster...

Posted by HEAR US on 05/31/2009 @ 01:19PM PT
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That is because the poor people understand what it is like to be in that situtation.. where the rich folks have no clue and the middle class they are learning little by little, since they will be there too..

I have always donated $$ to homeless people. I never give money to churches.. give the money to the people who actually needs the help... the middle man in charities mostly keep the money for themselves. Just like the churches do as well.

Posted by Lara Nunes on 05/31/2009 @ 11:40PM PT
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There's a difference in heart too. Very often, the poor give because they want to do so and see the need - thinking little (if anything) of stuff like "tax advantages" or "looking good in their social circle because of donating X amount to ____". While quite often those who are "rich" think of tax advantages and what others will think when deciding how much to give and to which agencies/charities - or even if they SHOULD give this year.

I will say this, when I give to charities, unless I know the group well I usually look to see what their overhead costs are and/or how their organization is rated. I'm more than happy to help others in my situation, but I'm not happy to help scammers masquerading as charities or top heavy organizations helping few besides their employees.

Posted by Danetta Amschler on 06/01/2009 @ 10:45AM PT
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Author

Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.