DOES JEWISH PHILANTHROPY DIFFER BY SEX AND TYPE OF GIVING?

Abstract

Little has been written on the role of gender in Jewish philanthropy, and there is even less empirical research on gender differences between Jewish men and women, or between Jews and non-Jews by gender. This study examines Jewish philanthropy by type of giving and gender. Spe-cifically, we examine the differing amounts given to charity (both reli-gious and secular) across eight groups, controlling for other factors that may affect philanthropic giving. These included four groups of married couples: those consisting of two Jewish spouses, of a Jewish man and a non-Jewish woman, of a non-Jewish man and a Jewish woman, and of two non-Jewish spouses; and four groups of singles: Jewish men, Jewish women, non-Jewish men and non-Jewish women. Using three waves of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we used regres-sion methods to examine the differences among the groups. Results indicated that the probability of giving and the amount given among Jewish women married to non-Jewish men are significantly less than among all other groups.