Causes Women Support

Are there differences in the causes men and women support?

The first report of Women Give 2010, released in October, reported differences in giving to charity between male and female single-headed households across income levels. Findings in that report revealed that (1) in every income group from the lowest quintile ($23,509 or less) to the highest quintile ( >$103,000), female-headed households were more likely to give to charity than male-headed households; (2) in every income group except for one, women gave more than men (almost twice as much); (3) when comparing females to males by single-status, women were more likely to give and give more than men—except for widowers who gave more than widows.

This second report, Causes Women Support, is a follow-up to the October 2010 report. Using the same data set, methodology, and analysis, we examine the differences between men and women's giving by charitable area. The research question we ask is, "Are there differences between male and female single-headed households across all subsectors of charitable giving? As in the first report, we focus only on male and female households led by the following singles: (1) never marrieds, (2) divorced/separated, and (3) widows/widowers. By focusing only on male and female single-headed households, the conclusions that we draw will be more definitive as to the differences between men's and women's giving.

Findings

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Finding #1:
Female-headed households are more likely or as likely to give as male-headed households in every charitable subsector

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Finding #2:
The top five areas in which female-headed households are significantly more likely than their male counterparts to give are the international, community, religion, health care, and youth & family areas.

In Finding 2 we examine differences between males and females in each subsector to determine their differences in the likelihood of giving. Females are more than 50 percent more likely than males to support international and community causes, although less than 6 percent of both men and women are likely to support these causes.