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Previous surveys have indicated that as people feel more financially secure their giving increases. Only 55% of the households where the respondent reported worrying a lot about money made contributions, while 71% reported they had made contributions when they had no worries about their finances. In 1998, the economy was strong, and the proportion of respondents who reported that they were worried about having enough money in the future declined to 67%, (the same as in 1992) from a high of 74% in 1996. Those respondents who indicated that they - worry a lot - about money has dropped 5 percentage points from 21% in 1996 to just under 16% in 1999. Since the proportion of the population that worries about money declined over the survey years, it is expected that the total amount contributed would increase.
Economic Influences of Giving 1994-1998
The 67% of respondents who worried about money contributed 1.7% of their household income in 1998, while the 30% who did not worry contributed 2.8% of their income. Among those who did not worry, 71% of the households contributed and 54% volunteered.
Among those respondents who worried a lot, 55% of the households contributed and 43% volunteered.
The decision to give is influenced by whether individuals have sufficient disposable income. Respondents were asked whether they had more, less, or the same amount of money left over after paying the bills this year as they did in the previous year. A quarter of the respondents reported that they had more money left over at the end of the year a - 5 percentage point increase since 1996. There had also been a steady decline in the percentage of respondents who reported having had less money left
over after paying bills, from 44% in 1992 to 31% in 1999. Over the years this survey has predicted that household giving and volunteering increases when an increased percentage of respondents report that they have more money left over or they gave more this year than last year. In 1998, this prediction certainly rang true with increased participation levels in giving, volunteering and amounts given within this group.
Respondents were also asked whether they gave more , less, or about the same amount of money to charitable organizations this year as compared to the previous year. These results tell us that in times when the economy is strong and unemployment is low people feel financially more secure and their giving increases. Respondents reporting that they gave a smaller amount declined from 14% in 1996 to 12%. There was also an increase in the percentage of respondents who reported giving a larger amount, up to 24% in 1999 from 21% in 1996. There was no change in the numbers reporting they had contributed the same amount to charity between the 1996 and 1999 surveys. The proportion of respondents was 61% in both surveys.
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