Religious Giving

Abstract

Religious giving has grown every year in both nominal and inflation-adjusted dollars since it has been tracked by Giving USA in 1955. Even during recessions, religious giving has grown, but it has grown relatively slowly averaging only 2% per year over the last 40 years compared to 5% per year for total giving. Over the last decade religious giving has grown 2.1% per year vs. 6.5% per year for total giving. The result is that religious giving as a share of total giving has fallen dramatically from over one-half for many years to under one-third today. In spite of the fact that many talk of the Biblical tithe, the author finds that less than 3% of US households give 10% or more to religious organizations and only 8.3% give 5% or more of their income to religion (including the 2.6% who give 10% or more). The paper also finds substantial variation in average giving levels by various religious affiliations. However, virtually all of the major religious affiliations for which there was data in both 1987/89 and 2001, the author found religious giving as a share of income has fallen by between one-fourth and three-fourths and that most faiths have experienced a decline of approximately one-third. The paper finds that income and wealth are important predictors of how much households donate and that tax itemizers give more than non-itemizers, even after controlling for differences in income and wealth. Marrieds and those with more children give more to religion. Religious giving grows with educational attainment but does not vary by race or ethnicity after controlling for income, wealth, etc. Not surprisingly, those with a religious affiliation give more than those without and those who are unemployed give significantly less than those who are employed.