New facts released about personal charity challenge the long standing canard that Leftist/Socialist policies breed nicer, kinder people. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), further compiled by Cato scholar Dan Mitchell, reveal some interesting revelations about voluntary social spending:
- 10.2% of GDP – Americans
- 6.0% of GDP – Dutch
- 5.3% of GDP – British
- 5.1% of GDP – Canadians
- 2.8% of GDP – French
- 2.0% of GDP – Germans
Related: This is no surprise to Dennis Prager, who has been arguing the same for years.
Interestingly, the percentage of GDP figures for the Americans is almost exactly the Biblical tithe (one-tenth).
When you are brought up to know that the government will give everything you make to other people, you tend to give less I guess.
2% Germans? There is more than meets the eye. If you are a member of a church, your tithes are actually compulsory taxes and the churches provide a whack of social services.
10.2% of GDP – Americans
5.1% of GDP – Canadians
Anyway…
We have twice the number of citizens you do ;>
That 10.2% does not include me. In the old days gave 10% to the Catholic Church, a few Hundred a year to the Louisiana State Police, gave can food and clothes to the Salvation Army, plus donated every Christmas to the Fire Fighters in the shopping mall parking lot dressed up like Santa’s.
No more, I converted to Roman Catholic, and them sob can’t roam far enuf to find me now, the bogus State Police Charity was being run out of Atlanta, can food prices are threw the roof and I am still wearing clothes from 1998, instead of $20’s my pocket change goes to the Fire Fighting Santa’s.
47% of Americans are not paying back into the system and I am damn tired of being taken to the cleaners. My charity only goes so far.
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Yeah….I really don’t think this is a relevant study. We’ve seen things like this before and there is no doubt the Americans are a generous people. However, they are also the most religious (of the 1st world countries mentioned). When one is asked about charitable donations, your numbers get driven up when you can honestly say, ‘well, the family puts about 100.00 a week in the donation plate….’
I donate blood. What’s a pint worth when it is needed? I shovel my elderly neighbor’s walks in the winter. Does that count?
What I don’t do is hand over money to the endless charities that beg at my door. Charities have become an industry, and support all sorts of people & initiatives I refuse to. Many also spend an outrageous sum on printing/promotional materials/advertising in order to raise ever more funds, and even more charities pay lordly salaries their employees. ‘And what’s your job?’ “I raise awareness…” Ummm-hmmm.
The implication of this and other studies like this is living in a ‘nanny state’ country fosters the notion ‘the government can do it.’ Maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe we nanny-staters see vast, well-intentioned, but bloated bureaucracies waste our money so much more frequently than Americans do, we intuitively understand what a crock the charity industry has become, and we have decided to opt out. I know that is what I have done.
Yeah, except for the fact that most of those countries have entrenched the notion that we’re supposed to help people into the very social fabric of our national institutions. We see it as a necessary social good, not something that people should do to buy their ways into heaven.
We are here to help you, we are from the government.
Damn right I give almost nothing to charity now.
Too many are “NGO’s” with a direct feed from the taxpayers. Dependent and subservient to government, and full of politically correct troughers.
Charity can only be honest if administered locally, with remote funding of welfare it became a career choice, complete with rampant fraud.
The first thing to go when govt helps, is compassion, next integrity, common sense and fiscal responsibility.
Detroit the poster child of help from concerned politicians and do-gooders.
The welfare state is broke and collapsing, never mind your ideology, can you add?.
The days of living large on others peoples money is almost over, I predict that the worst bandits of the future will be ex govt employees unable to adjust to having to produce a good or service that is valued by society.
I’ve been a Catholic my entire life and I have never heard the word “tithe” come out of anyone’s mouth.
This is some sort of Protestant misinterpretation or misinformation or something. Under the precepts of the Church, you are required to help the Church in anyway you can which can mean anything. You are required to help the needy through the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy.
But I digress…
This not an old phenomenon. Canadians give less of their time and resources to charity for any number of reasons but the most pernicious in my mind is that they think the government (read: taxpayer) should do it. Nope. We also confuse, for any number of politically correct reasons, the wastrels with truly needy. It’s no wonder people get turned off helping others. Who knows where one’s money is going?
You might see reverse correlation with socialist tendencies of population, but I see reverse correlation with IQ. Stupid people give away more of their earnings. Also Germany is tired of rescuing Greece and other freeloaders, so the point is moot at best. Boo!
What about volunteer hours?
Takes people to man all these groups, spending that charity money.
Some get more bang for your buck, than others, but we already knew that.
Just saying.
Depends where you give. I give money to Blogs for real news plus political education. Usually small ministries I have verified as legitimate.With outreaches World wide but hardly known. They don’t advertise you see.
Some Ministries that are not money preachers, but spread Salvation with hope.
Than of course my own lifespan, doing for others.
Big Charities as has been said. Usually mean Big pushers of the poverty Industry shakedown.
Most animal groups have been taken over by anti pet or organization that would rather kill an animal than house them.
A lot of Phoney church’s with wolves in the pulpit. False prophets, with big ministries to their ego’s.
The Government sends free food, just to be sold by dictators to supply armies that kill.
To increase ever bigger bureaucracies with even bigger payroll’s for themselves.
Some secular ones can be good. Like Dr’s without boarder, or Dentists without borders.
Sending used eyeglasses is a good idea as well.
The best though in my experience is helping individuals during great trials.
Here is a more extensive list. Germany is a long way from the bottom.
http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/private-voluntary-social-spending_20743904-table6
You might see reverse correlation with socialist tendencies of population, but I see reverse correlation with IQ. Stupid people give away more of their earnings.Posted by: Bill B
yes and they buy more lotto, smokes, junk food and disposable crap too. I watch so-called poor in the grocery store line and they’re spending twice as much for half the nutrition and buying a lot of expensive packaging to throw in the garbage. They’re not poor because they’re smart.
I believe those tables are biased; the US is anomalously high compared with the rest of the world. I suspect the differences are more related to how the charity is measured.
Also in the US generally, you can deduct cash contributions in full up to 50% of your adjusted gross income. But in Canada only 32% is deductible in my case. No doubt that influences how much some give.
I buy food from local farmers and give it to the food bank. That wouldn’t show as a statistic.
Is this before or after tax dollars. I personally pay enough taxes into the government here in Canada that they should be dealing with all of this charity ‘stuff’. I paid almost 50% of my entire salary last year in taxes. I don’t own a megamansion, or new cars or vacation overseas, heck, I can only afford to eat out with the family about once every month or two.
And for the record when I lived in the USA for several years I had a lot more disposal income and donated to charities for all causes.
I paid almost 50% of my entire salary last year in taxes. Posted by: J
I paid almost 10% of my net income last year in taxes [income+property+gst].
I also don’t own a megamansion, or new cars, or go on vacation,
I’m self employed.