June 4, 1998 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The percentage of adults who donate time to charity varies widely from one country to another, a new survey reports.
Half of all adult Americans claim that they do some volunteer work, according to a poll of practices in seven countries. In India, by contrast, 32 per cent of adults say they volunteer, as do 26 per cent in Brazil, 19 per cent in France, 17 per cent in Germany, 12 per cent in Hong Kong, and 11 per cent in Japan.
Wherever they live, most people are giving at least as much time to charity as they did five years ago, the survey reports. In all but one of the countries, more than three-quarters of the volunteers surveyed say they donate at least as much time to charity as they did in 1993. That figure is highest in France and Japan, where 85 per cent of volunteers claim that to be true. In Hong Kong, a bare majority (52 per cent) of volunteers make that assertion.
More than four out of five people in each of the seven countries agreed that people should spend some time volunteering to help their less-fortunate neighbors.
The survey was commissioned by Lions Clubs International, a community-service organization with 1.4 million members in nearly 44,000 clubs around the world.
“We are encouraged to see that, in a world of different cultures, people are still reaching out to help their neighbors, and that the spirit of volunteerism is growing strong,” said Howard L. Patterson, president of Lions Clubs International.
The report says that a plurality of volunteers in the United States (54 per cent), Brazil (49 per cent), France (46 per cent), and India (43 per cent) say they are primarily motivated to do charity work because they enjoy it or feel good about helping others. A plurality of volunteers in Brazil and Germany say their primary motivation is a sense of obligation about helping the less fortunate.
Religious factors are most influential in stimulating volunteer activities in Brazil, where 31 per cent of adults cite it as a major reason, and in Hong Kong, where 21 per cent make that claim.
The principal reason people give for not volunteering is lack of time.
The countries also differ in the importance they assign to various social or health issues. Brazilians identify literacy as a critical need, for example, while the Japanese list environmental protection. Over all, the most critical needs identified are feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, finding cures for AIDS and cancer, and preventing child abuse.
Free executive summaries of the report are available from Janet McMahan, public-relations manager, Lions Clubs International, 300 22nd Street, Oak Brook, Ill. 60523-8842; by phone (630) 571-5466, extension 371; the fax is (630) 571-1685.
