(Photo: Shutterstock)
A significant portion of all racial groups in the U.S. give to charity, and high-net-worth households are especially likely to do so, according to a new report from the Women's Philanthropy Institute.
Among the communities studied, three in five Asian-American and white households and one in three Hispanic and African-American households in the general population give to charity. More than eight in 10 wealthy households across all racial groups make donations.
The report, which was funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found that a donor's race does not have a major effect on how much he or she gives, after adjusting for factors such as wealth, income and education.
Gender patterns WPI research previously identified — that single women and married couples are likelier to give than single men — held true within each of the racial/ethnic groups studied.
The new study found that for all groups, single women were likelier than single men to give to charity:
- Asian-American: 56.5% vs. 26.3%
- White: 49.7% vs. 34.9%
- African-Americans: 31.8% vs. 21.7%
- Hispanic: 28.7% vs. 25.4%
Married and cohabiting couples were more likely than either single men or single women to do so: Asian-American and white, 69.8%; African-American 47.7%; and Hispanic, 38.7%.
"Women Give 2019 highlights the universality of giving," Debra Mesch, the Eileen Lamb O'Gara Chair in Women's Philanthropy at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, said in a statement.
