Study: Only half of US households donate to charity

The percentage of Americans who give to religious causes has decreased in tandem with attendance at worship services as the number of Americans not affiliated with any religion grows. Photo: AP

For the first time in nearly two decades, only half of American households donated to a charity, according to a study released Tuesday. The findings confirm a trend worrying experts: Donations to charitable causes are reaching record highs, but the giving is done by a smaller and smaller slice of the population.

The study, published every other year by Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, comes from a survey that has been tracking the giving patterns of more than 9,000 households since 2000, when 66% of US households donated to a charitable organisation. That number dropped to 49.6% in 2018, the latest year with comprehensive figures from those households.