'Adios Michigan': Kamala Fails to Secure Another Key Endorsement
A Lawyer’s Take on Why Kamala Gives Lousy Interviews
A Shift in the Race
Why, in Our Free Country, Do We Lack Education Freedom?
Will Americans Vote for Their Own Survival or Choose Trump Hatred?
The Brat Energy Is Gone
Kamala’s Socialist Nightmare: How the Left Plans to Sink Her in Michigan
Chip Mellor's Legacy Promotes a Broader Concept of Civil Liberties
Biden Administration Chooses Politics Over National Security and Norms
Will Non-Citizen Votes Decide This Election?
Jewish Americans Need Real Leadership in the White House. President Trump Shows Up...
The Democrats’ Drew Bledsoe Moment
Bill Clinton Makes the Case for Donald Trump
Goodbye Kamala
Harris’ Rhetorical Shift on Guns Reflects Widespread Support for Self-Defense
Tipsheet

Christmas in America: Faith, Family, Charity

While Christmas is often a time for families, it is also a time of giving and generousity. Nowhere is that more true than in the United States of America where, while it seems as though commercialization lets no stone go unturned, Americans continue to be the most charitable people in the world.
Advertisement

Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute has done extensive research on charitable giving and calculated that Americans are by far the most charitable people in the world.

No developed country approaches American giving. For example, in 1995 (the most recent year for which data are available), Americans gave, per capita, three and a half times as much to causes and charities as the French, seven times as much as the Germans, and 14 times as much as the Italians. Similarly, in 1998, Americans were 15 percent more likely to volunteer their time than the Dutch, 21 percent more likely than the Swiss, and 32 percent more likely than the Germans. These differences are not attributable to demographic characteristics such as education, income, age, sex, or marital status. On the contrary, if we look at two people who are identical in all these ways except that one is European and the other American, the probability is still far lower that the European will volunteer than the American.

And that's true not just for American charities. While official U.S. government aid to developing countries often takes a front seat in Americans' minds of places to cut wasteful spending, private individuals and organizations in America have long outpaced the government in charitable giving to developing nations.

While progressives and celebrities continue to lament America's supposed lack of empathy for other countries, charitable giving from Americans - supported by private philanthropy - is astounding.

Advertisement

2012 may turn out to be a historic year in charitable giving, bolstered by federal government policy uncertainty. Talk of limiting or eliminating tax deductions has some Americans emptying their wallets for charity, before the federal government potentially decides to tax their charity.

Tax uncertainty in Washington is setting off a mad scramble among wealthy taxpayers and charities to maximize donations before the end of the year.

Their worry: The tax deduction for charitable giving, a fixture of the tax code for nearly a century, is coming under pressure as part of a broader fiscal agreement now being hammered out on Capitol Hill.

Irving Plotkin, an economist and philanthropist in Cambridge, Mass., who has had a charitable account with Vanguard for a decade, said he has tripled his donation so far this year. He added that he might donate again before year-end if Congress imposes deduction limits for 2013.

For an example of how Americans go big for charities during the Christmas season, check out this video below about volunteers for a New York-area charity.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement