Recent research from Stanford University in the United States showed that “the most generous, trusting, and helpful people are not those with more money, but, rather, those with less”.
Research from Asia shows similar conclusions. The World Giving Index survey conducted by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) last year showed a higher percentage of individuals in countries with lower GDP, like Thailand, donated to charities compared to people in countries with higher GDP, like South Korea.
While research on this is somewhat limited in Singapore, data indicated that people with lower income are generous here too.
The Individual Giving Survey 2010 conducted by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) found that 83 percent of people who live in 1-3 room HDB flats and are likely to have lower incomes donated to charity in the past year.
While a relatively similar 87 percent of those in 4-5 room HDB flats also donated, only 75 percent of people who live in condominiums and are likely to have a higher income made charitable donations.
Research has also started to examine the reasons why those with less still give so generously.
Happy versus wealthy
One reason for higher rates of giving among the less wealthy, according to CAF, is that “an individual is more likely to give to charity if they live in a ‘happy’ country than if they live in a ‘wealthy’ country”.
As CAF director of research Richard Harrison told Straits Times, “the stronger link between happiness and giving, rather than between wealth and giving, was the ‘most important and pleasantly surprising’ finding in the research”.
Other researchers found that people with lower incomes may also empathise more with people who are needy.
Paul Piff of the University of California at Berkeley found that people with lower incomes “were more attuned to the needs of others and more committed generally to the values of egalitarianism,” according to the New York Times.
On the other hand, he said, upper-class people “clung to values that “prioritised their own needs”.
Donating for a cause
While little research has been conducted here on why people donate to charity, the response to natural disasters and economic hardship showed that Singaporeans can be quite generous in donating for a specific cause.
Singaporeans donated more than S$70 million to the Red Cross for relief efforts after the 2005 tsunami, for example, and the Red Cross collected more than S$30 million this year for relief efforts in Japan.
Singaporeans also donated when times are difficult. The Community Chest said last year that “despite an economic downturn in 2009, the recipients of the Special Events Awards at the Community Chest Awards 2010 raised nearly S$10.2 million for charity last year – the highest amount in the past five years”.
Part of the reason for giving when there’s a specific hardship may be that, as NVPC CEO Laurence Lien said last year, “during hard times, people are more aware of the needs around them; they relook their priorities and serve these needs through volunteerism and philanthropy”.
While people may donate to charities sporadically or when there is a specific need, regular donations seem to be less prevalent. The CAF study, for example, found that Singapore ranked 91st in its Index, with just 35 percent giving money to charity in the past month – rather than the past year - compared to 73 percent in Thailand and 64 percent in Laos.
Inertia
One reason for the lack of consistent giving in ordinary times could be, as former NVPC chairman Willie Cheng said, that “our inertia is a result of our being used to being dependent on the Government to act and get the job done”.
While the results of the research may seem to imply that charities here in Singapore could have difficulty obtaining regular donations from broad segments of society, consideration of the surveys and research seems to indicate that there are actually some opportunities that are quite encouraging.
Regardless of whether a person is rich or poor, they still want to help others and are likely to donate when they see a specific need. That conclusion is good news for charities, and quite encouraging for those who need help as well.
Richard Hartung | 19 August 2011
