Survey: Religious People Are More Generous

Religion makes people more generous. That’s the finding of a recent poll commissioned by BBC that asked more than 2,500 people questions about their religious beliefs and their giving habits. The poll numbers—which were collected by the research group ComRes—found that respondents across the U.K. who claimed to be practicing believers were more likely to have made a recent charitable donation than those who were not religious. Sikhs were the most generous—with 100 percent claiming to have given away money in the last month—followed by practicing Jews (82 percent), Christians (78 percent), Hindus (76 percent) and Muslims (72 percent). Among those who claimed no religion, the number who recently gave to charity fell to 67 percent. However, only 40 percent of religious respondents said they had been encouraged by their church or religious group to give to charity.