The 12-month Growing Giving inquiry will be chaired by former cabinet minister David Blunkett, who will be joined by Tory MP Andrew Percy and Liberal Democrat Peer Baroness Tyler.
As part of the inquiry, the Charities Aid Foundation is calling for written evidence on the role of education in helping young people to learn about and engage with charity. The deadline for submissions for this call is 27 April 2013.
To mark the launch of the inquiry, the Charities Aid Foundation released results from a survey, Growing Up Giving, about young peoples’ giving. The findings show that young people have a strong desire to support charities and help others, despite living through the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. The survey found that
- 9-11 year olds gave an average of £1.99 a month to charity, while 16-18 year olds gave an average of £5.73 a month.
- more than half of young people (53%) believe it is more important to help others than help themselves
- more than two thirds (68%) believe that young people should give up some time to help others
- nearly two thirds (63%) believe that the more money people have, the more they should give to charity
- nearly two thirds (63%) believe that all businesses should give money to charity
- 61% of young people say that schools arranging charity work would be most likely to encourage them to help charities, followed by charity themed days at school (53%) and charities coming to school (49%) – ranked ahead of celebrity endorsement (30%) and friends and family talking about charities (18%).
The evidence suggests that giving has been declining among younger generations of adults over the decades, with people in their 30s and 40s less likely to give than their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. The study published last year, Mind the Gap, found that the proportion of all money given to charity by people in their 30s has more than halved in the last 40 years.
John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “This survey shows that children have a natural desire to help others. It’s fantastic that they are so keen to support the causes we all care about.
“It’s vital that the young people at school and college today maintain their enthusiasm for giving and carry on supporting charities when they move into the world of work.
“The problem we face is that people under 30 are contributing a declining share of charitable donations in Britain. We want to find ways of building on the spirit of giving among our children, so we can ensure this country remains one of the world’s most generous countries in years to come.”
David Blunkett said: “Every young person can make a difference and support the causes they care about. Young people are crying out for advice and a framework by which they can be aided to help others, either in fundraising or in giving of their time.
“Linked to the government’s substantial investment in National Citizen’s Service for 16 year olds, we will want to examine how we can identify the ingredients that would encourage a continuing generosity at a time of austerity, as well as active citizenship, which will sustain society by bringing people together to meet need.”
More information can be found on the Charities Aid Foundation website.
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