18 April 2014
Britain faces a North-South divide in charitable giving,
reflecting the broader regional divide in the economic recovery,
according to research released today by CAF.
In a poll, people in the South East were nearly twice as likely
(11%) to be increasing their charitable support over the next 12
months than Northerners (6%).
When asked about their spending plans in other areas, such as
how much they plan to spend on their holidays or on leisure
activities, a higher percentage of adults in the South
East say that they are likely to increase their spending than
those in the North. 22% of people in the South East say they are
likely to increase their spending on holidays, compared to 16% in
the North, and 14% of people in the South East plan to spend more
on leisure activities compared to 10% of Northerners.
Other areas outside the South East are also less optimistic
about their charitable giving in the year ahead. In Wales and the
South West only 4% of residents say that they plan to increase
their charitable giving over the next 12 months, with far more
expecting to decrease their charitable giving (20%).
The research also found that overall people say they are more
likely to increase their spending on holidays and clothes than
increase their charitable support over the next 12 months. 19% of
British people say that they expect to pay more for holidays and
13% say that they plan to increase their spending on clothes, while
only 8% of British people say they expect to donate more to
charity.
Despite this, people are reluctant to cut back on their
charitable giving, with people being more likely to say that they
will decrease their spending on takeaways (30% say they plan to
decrease spending in this area) and going out for a drink (25%)
than on charity donations (18%).
Young people are also more optimistic about their charitable
giving in 2014 than the older generations. 18% of those aged 18-24
say they plan to increase their giving over the next 12 months,
compared with only 3% of those aged 45-54.
The survey by pollsters ComRes also found:
- The main reason why people say they plan to increase their
spending on charities is because they expect their financial
situation to improve over the next 12 months (31%).
- Groceries (30%) are the expense the greatest proportion of
people say they expect to increase over the next 12 months,
followed by holidays (19%), clothes (13%), leisure activities (11%)
and takeaways (11%), going out for a drink (9%), watching or
participating in a sport (8%) and charitable donations (8%).
John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said:
“It is encouraging that so many people are planning to maintain or
increase their charitable giving this year.
“Although there are glimmers of hope in the economy, many of us
don’t feel any the richer for it and this is particularly true
outside of London and the South East. It’s clear from our findings
there is a North-South divide in the economic recovery, reflected
in people’s attitudes to charitable giving.
“Across the UK people are reluctant to reduce their giving to
charity and would prefer to cut their spending on takeaways or
drinks. This shows that, despite the difficult economic
circumstances, British people are incredibly generous and
charitable.”
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ComRes interviewed 2,045 British adults online
between 24th and 26th January 2014. Data were weighted to be
representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the
British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full data tables
are available on the ComRes website.