Poor more generous than rich in recession, study shows

Professor Yaojun Li, of the Institute for Social Change, University of Manchester, analysed survey data on over 100,000 adults in England and Wales, over ten years to 2011. He will tell the British Sociological Association's annual conference in London that the average people gave to charity in the four weeks before being questioned during the year 2010/11 was £16, compared with £15 given by those questioned during 2007/08. The £16 figure has been adjusted downwards to remove the effect of inflation, to allow precise comparison. Professor Li said that in 2010/11 the poorest 20% gave 3.2% of their gross monthly income to charity during the four weeks before they were ed, and the richest 20% gave 0. The remaining 60% gave under 2%. In absolute amounts, the figures were £31.44 for the richest 20%, and £6.35 for the poorest 20%. "An inverse relationship is found between giving and income,” said Professor Li.