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Consumer: 'Happy people more likely to give to charity'
The UK and Ireland are among the top 10 most charitable countries in the world, a study revealed today.
Experts analysed people's generosity through financial donations and volunteering time in order to produce the rankings.
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The research also found that happier people were more likely to give money to charity than those who were wealthy.
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Ireland came joint third with Canada in the Charities Aid Foundation's World Giving Index, while the UK tied in eighth place with Sri Lanka.
CAF used data from a Gallup survey on the charitable behaviour of the populations of 153 countries, which asked respondents whether they had given money to charity, given their time or helped a stranger in the last month.
The survey also asked people to rank how happy they were with life on a scale of one to 10.
Researchers from CAF compared the strength of the relationship between giving with a nation's GDP and the happiness of its population and found the link between well-being and giving was stronger than the link between wealth and giving (a correlation of 0.69 compared with a correlation of 0.58).
Adults in the UK were the third most generous in terms of giving money, with 73% of the population having donated to charity.
Less than a third (29%) had volunteered their time, more than half (58%) had helped a stranger and the country's happiness score was 5.6, CAF said.
Australia and New Zealand topped the index in the study, which CAF said was the largest of its kind.
Richard Harrison, CAF director of research, said: "Donating money to charity is something that is traditionally seen as being driven by how wealthy a person is.
"However, it is clear that happiness plays an important role in influencing whether people give.
"The findings suggest a positive cycle where one person gives to charity, the charity improves the happiness of the individuals they support and they in turn are more likely to give."
In a separate study, more than six out of 10 Britons (62%) said they believed it was morally right for the UK to help developing countries.
But a slightly higher proportion (63%) thought government aid should be cut to help the UK's domestic situation and deal with its budget deficit, according to a survey by the Institute of Development Studies.
The results were published today in Aid To Developing Countries: Where Does The UK Public Stand?, the first report of the Institute's long-term representative panel - the UK Public Opinion Monitor.
Professor Lawrence Haddad, director of the Institute of Development Studies, said: "It is encouraging that, even in times of austerity, the majority of people say we have a moral obligation to help the poor in the world.
"The concerning finding from our survey is that many respondents believe aid is wasted.
"Yet IDS research has consistently demonstrated that aid really does make an enormous difference to poor people.
"This survey suggests development charities and the Government need to take a fresh approach to engaging with the public about aid."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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