Financial charity giving behaviour of the working poor: an empirical investigation

Abstract

ABSTRACTAlthough it is well-known that, on the average, financially poor individuals donate higher percentages of their incomes to charity than do the financially well-off, little research has been completed into possible differences in the financial giving behaviour of poor people in employment (the working poor) and poor individuals of working age who do not work. The present study addresses this issue via a survey of working and unemployed poor people in three low-income Boroughs in inner-London: Newham, Hackney and Tower Hamlets. It is hypothesised that disparities can be explained by, among other things, factors connected with a poor person’s sense of engagement with the wider society; in conjunction with an individual’s experiences and perceptions of social deprivation. Outcomes to the investigation suggest that the working poor tend to exhibit attitudes and behaviour more similar to those of the financially better-off than to the non-working poor, and that their affinity with the better-off extends to their donating lower percentages of their incomes to charity than the unemployed poor.