A Charitable Disconnect?

Something’s wrong here: The United States is the most charitable nation in the world, and yet nearly half of Americans are classified as poor/low income, with 16 percent now living below the poverty line.

This week, the Charities Aid Foundation released the 2011 World Giving Index, a comprehensive study that ranks countries by their generosity. The study, gleaned from 150,000 interviews with participants in 153 nations, focused on three categories:  monetary donations, time spent volunteering, and willingness to help a stranger.

This year, the United States topped the list, up from fifth place in 2010.

While the amount of money Americans give to charity has not increased markedly, the study found a 4 percent increase in volunteering time, and an 8 percent increase in helping a stranger. (While this may not seem like drastic change, one percent means thousands of people.)

Overall, the study found that:

• two-thirds of Americans have donated to charity
• 43 percent have volunteered their time
• 73 percent have helped a stranger.
• worldwide giving increased less than 1 percent in the last year (from 31.6 percent in 2010 to 32.4 percent in 2011)
• while the monetary donations have dropped across the board, volunteering time and helping strangers has increased
• giving money and volunteer time is increasingly popular in the oldest age group (over 50), and
• helping strangers is most common among the middle aged (25 – 34 years old).

Read the full report here.

The World Giving Index and its findings beg us to consider what charity and giving mean; how people of faith can best give generously within their means; and what these studies might teach us about ourselves and our world.

The most generous country in the world shouldn’t abide half of its citizens living in poverty.

UPDATED 2:31 EST.