Charitable Giving in the United States

In 2021, Americans donated nearly $500 billion to charity. One-quarter of all Americans also report volunteering their time. What does economic analysis add to our understanding of volunteering time and giving money to charities, activities typically considered moral or religious duties? To what causes do people donate time or money? And what makes people more or less likely to give to a particular organization? Laura Gee joins EconoFact Chats to discuss these issues. Laura is an Associate Professor of Economics at Tufts University.  Her research is in behavioral economics — with a particular focus on how individual decision making is influenced by group dynamics.