World Gifting Comparison

[achilles12604]

In another thread it suggested that the world's largest charity was run by and funded by an Atheist. It was also suggested that the U.S., by virtue of it's Christian majority, gives less than other nations - some of which are more secular.

The questions for debate:
How does the charity of the U.S. population (as a percentage of their annual incomes) compare to other other wealthy democracies?
If disparities exist, can they be attributed to religious belief and practice? Why?

Thanks to Cmass for smacking me around when I was to tired to think straight.

[Goat]

In another thread it suggested that the world's largest charity was run by and funded by an Atheist. It was also suggested that the U.S., by virtue of it's Christian majority, gives less than other nations - some of which are more secular.

The questions for debate:
How does the charity of the U.S. population (as a percentage of their annual incomes) compare to other other wealthy democracies?
If disparities exist, can they be attributed to religious belief and practice? Why?

Thanks to Cmass for smacking me around when I was to tired to think straight.

Does giving to 'charity' include 'tithes' to the church? Is 'Tithing' to a church 'charity'?
If so, what percentage of 'tithes' go to church maintance, and what percentage goes to feeding the poor, education, clothes to the poor, etc?

[MagusYanam]

This came up when I did a Google search for charity in developed nations. The standard is the ODA index, which is defined as:

The net official development assistance (ODA) from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations to developing countries and multilateral organizations. ODA is defined as financial assistance that is concessional in character, has the main objective to promote economic development and welfare of the less developed countries (LDCs), and contains a grant element of at least 25%. The entry does not cover other official flows (OOF) or private flows. Per capita figures expressed per 1 population.

Hmm... it looks like Luxembourg is at the top of the list, and Luxembourg is mostly Catholic, I think; then come Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden, all of which are largely secular-ish Protestant.

The United States doesn't come off looking too good... but hey, at least we're beating Italy and South Korea!

[micatala]

This came up when I did a Google search for charity in developed nations. The standard is the ODA index, which is defined as:

The net official development assistance (ODA) from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations to developing countries and multilateral organizations. ODA is defined as financial assistance that is concessional in character, has the main objective to promote economic development and welfare of the less developed countries (LDCs), and contains a grant element of at least 25%. The entry does not cover other official flows (OOF) or private flows. Per capita figures expressed per 1 population.

Hmm... it looks like Luxembourg is at the top of the list, and Luxembourg is mostly Catholic, I think; then come Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden, all of which are largely secular-ish Protestant.

The United States doesn't come off looking too good... but hey, at least we're beating Italy and South Korea!

Looking per GDP dollar instead of per capita, we are next to last, beating only Iceland.

Even in total terms, we are fourth, trailing Japan, UK, and France.

However, as the comments at the site indicate, the definition of what is counted is important and does not include private giving. For another view, see:

http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseact ... ls&id=3712

There is a summary and a link to the full article.

At this point, it seems to me the picture is more complicated than presented by the link given by Magus. Yes, the U.S. Government aid is lower than others. Yes, a lot of the aid the U.S. government gives is military aid or aid arguably given more for political purposes than economic development purposes (e.g. Israel and Egypt). However, it is also true that private giving from the U.S. is significant. At this point, I have not waded through what has been cited so far to see how we might stack up if the private giving is taken into account. The U.S. may certainly still be 'behind' but at this point I am not prepared to jump to that conclusion.

[MagusYanam]

At this point, it seems to me the picture is more complicated than presented by the link given by Magus. Yes, the U.S. Government aid is lower than others. Yes, a lot of the aid the U.S. government gives is military aid or aid arguably given more for political purposes than economic development purposes (e.g. Israel and Egypt). However, it is also true that private giving from the U.S. is significant. At this point, I have not waded through what has been cited so far to see how we might stack up if the private giving is taken into account. The U.S. may certainly still be 'behind' but at this point I am not prepared to jump to that conclusion.

Good point, micatala. I thought the NationMaster website was a good place to start, but you're right in that it isn't the be-all, end-all in this debate (I didn't really intend it to be).

As to giving through the private sector (what does that mean, anyway? Giving through businesses, or as private citizens? Where does charity through civil society organisations like churches, clubs, unions and other NGO's fit in?), I think some more research needs to be done. The ODA index does have its usefulness, to be sure, but I think the parameters need to be more carefully defined to get a clearer picture of what charity actually looks like.

[achilles12604]

Edit


So if personal giving in the US is measured at $62 Billion, How much is that per capita?

206.66 per capita. So the people of the US give more than Sweden, the UK, France and is only behind 4 other countries GOVTS.

That is pretty sweet.

Should we add the personal giving to the Govt giving I wonder? Na. We would be in the same (5th) place. We wont bother. Our people are fine on their own.


#1 Luxembourg: $490.59 per capita
#2 Denmark: $389.53 per capita
#3 Norway: $302.51 per capita
#4 Netherlands: $241.39 per capita

US PEOPLE HERE 206.66

#5 Sweden: $188.24 per capita
#6 United Kingdom: $176.06 per capita
#7 Finland: $162.36 per capita
#8 Ireland: $147.72 per capita
#9 Switzerland: $145.61 per capita
#10 Belgium: $103.15 per capita
#11 Austria: $83.05 per capita
#12 Canada: $77.87 per capita
#13 Japan: $69.84 per capita
#14 Germany: $67.96 per capita
#15 Australia: $43.75 per capita
#16 Spain: $32.88 per capita
#17 Portugal: $25.46 per capita
#18 United States: $22.91 per capita
#19 Iceland: $22.19 per capita
#20 Italy: $17.20 per capita
#21 Korea, South: $15.17 per capita

[Goat]

Edit


So if personal giving in the US is measured at $62 Billion, How much is that per capita?

206.66 per capita. So the people of the US give more than Sweden, the UK, France and is only behind 4 other countries GOVTS.

That is pretty sweet.

Should we add the personal giving to the Govt giving I wonder? Na. We would be in the same (5th) place. We wont bother. Our people are fine on their own.


#1 Luxembourg: $490.59 per capita
#2 Denmark: $389.53 per capita
#3 Norway: $302.51 per capita
#4 Netherlands: $241.39 per capita

US PEOPLE HERE 206.66

#5 Sweden: $188.24 per capita
#6 United Kingdom: $176.06 per capita
#7 Finland: $162.36 per capita
#8 Ireland: $147.72 per capita
#9 Switzerland: $145.61 per capita
#10 Belgium: $103.15 per capita
#11 Austria: $83.05 per capita
#12 Canada: $77.87 per capita
#13 Japan: $69.84 per capita
#14 Germany: $67.96 per capita
#15 Australia: $43.75 per capita
#16 Spain: $32.88 per capita
#17 Portugal: $25.46 per capita
#18 United States: $22.91 per capita
#19 Iceland: $22.19 per capita
#20 Italy: $17.20 per capita
#21 Korea, South: $15.17 per capita

For a true comparison, you have to add the personal giving and the government giving of all nations.

Then.. you have to factor in the average yearly income, and figure out the percentage of yearly income.

[achilles12604]

Edit


So if personal giving in the US is measured at $62 Billion, How much is that per capita?

206.66 per capita. So the people of the US give more than Sweden, the UK, France and is only behind 4 other countries GOVTS.

That is pretty sweet.

Should we add the personal giving to the Govt giving I wonder? Na. We would be in the same (5th) place. We wont bother. Our people are fine on their own.


#1 Luxembourg: $490.59 per capita
#2 Denmark: $389.53 per capita
#3 Norway: $302.51 per capita
#4 Netherlands: $241.39 per capita

US PEOPLE HERE 206.66

#5 Sweden: $188.24 per capita
#6 United Kingdom: $176.06 per capita
#7 Finland: $162.36 per capita
#8 Ireland: $147.72 per capita
#9 Switzerland: $145.61 per capita
#10 Belgium: $103.15 per capita
#11 Austria: $83.05 per capita
#12 Canada: $77.87 per capita
#13 Japan: $69.84 per capita
#14 Germany: $67.96 per capita
#15 Australia: $43.75 per capita
#16 Spain: $32.88 per capita
#17 Portugal: $25.46 per capita
#18 United States: $22.91 per capita
#19 Iceland: $22.19 per capita
#20 Italy: $17.20 per capita
#21 Korea, South: $15.17 per capita

For a true comparison, you have to add the personal giving and the government giving of all nations.

Then.. you have to factor in the average yearly income, and figure out the percentage of yearly income.

Well . . . . . . get started.