Religious US states ‘are the most generous’

Published on 21/08/2012 00:00

A NEW study on the generosity of Americans suggests that states with the least religious residents are also the stingiest about giving money to charity.

The study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, based on tax returns, found that residents in states where religious participation is higher than the rest of the nation, particularly in the South, gave the greatest percentage of discretionary income to charity.

The most generous state was Utah, where residents gave 10.6 per cent of their discretionary income to charity. Next were Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina. The least generous was New Hampshire, at 2.5 per cent.

Alan Wolfe, a political science professor at Boston College, said it’s wrong to link a state’s religious make-up with its generosity. People in less religious states are giving in a different way by being more willing to pay higher taxes so the government can equitably distribute superior benefits, he said.