An Uncomfortable Truth

The Tablet
Dec. 22, 2007

Lowest-paid give most to charity, Tablet survey finds
Isabel de Bertodano

PEOPLE ON the lowest incomes will be among those donating most generously to the Church and to charities this Christmas.

The results of a Tablet survey show that more than a quarter of people on salaries of less than £20,000 a year will give in excess of £100 to charity at Christmas, while 5 per cent will also give the same amount to the Church. The survey, completed by visitors to The Tablet's website and subscribers to our enewsletter, shows that the vast majority of people give a special donation to charity at Christmas. Most tend to donate a larger sum to charities than they do to collections at Christmas Masses.

Nonetheless, more than half of respondents said they would be giving at least £20 to the Church, with 20 per cent of those on large salaries giving in excess of £100. Priests rely on Christmas to boost their income, with all donations put into collections at Midnight Mass and on Christmas Day going straight to the clergy rather than into the parish coffers. Fr Tom Jordan, chairman of the National Conference of Priests, said Christmas was essential to priests but that many felt awkward about asking people to give generously. "It is the mainstay of clergy income and for our financial existence," he said. "A tradition has built up and the collections are bigger at Christmas but I'm not sure if parishioners always realise how important it is to us." However, it is to charities that people give really generously. Among respondents to our survey 40 per cent of people said they would be giving more than £100, while just over 3 per cent planned to give in excess of £1,000. Around 700 people responded to our survey, which also found that people prefer to give directly to charity at Christmas rather than buying "alternative gifts" for friends and family such as goats or latrines for the developing world.

While 57 per cent of all respondents said they were not planning to buy any alternative gifts this year, 70 per cent of these people said they would make a special donation to charity instead.