Wow. I thought taxes were a hot-button issue. But taxes are nothing, nothing , compared with how we feel about social and economic classes...
My column "Why are the rich such jerks?" -- which summarized some recent research about the behavior of wealthier people compared with poorer people -- drew more than 600 comments on MSN Money and 1,700 shares on Facebook.
Just as clichés about the rich are unhelpful, so, too, are stereotypes about the poor. Dismissing all low-income Americans as losers who deserve their fates, or as powerless victims of terrible circumstances, is no more accurate than saying all wealthy people are jerks or they're all meritorious (exhibit A: Paris Hilton).
I find it more interesting to see what the different ends of the social and economic spectrum can teach each other. That's why I wrote "What the 1% know about money" and why I'm now writing its counterpart.
Here are some of the things the poor can teach the rest of us:
How to empathize. People in lower socio-economic ranks are better able to read and understand other people's emotions, according to studies conducted by researchers from the University of California and the University of Toronto.
"Lower-class individuals, relative to their upper-class counterparts, scored higher on a measure of empathic accuracy, judged the emotions of a stranger more accurately and inferred emotions more accurately from subtle expressions in the eyes," the researchers noted in their paper, "Social Class, Contextualism and Empathetic Accuracy," published in the journal Psychological Science.
The researchers speculated that poorer people were more likely to "live lives defined by threat," which required them to be more vigilant.
In a world that seems increasingly dogmatic, polarized and shrill, I think we could all use a little more empathy. Empathy connects people and builds trust. It breaks down barriers, leading to more understanding and cooperation. Being able to put ourselves in each other's shoes makes us better people and better citizens.
How to be compassionate. Other studies by the same researchers found lower-class people were more likely to be helpful and generous than wealthier folks. But those who specialize in philanthropic research have long known that poorer people give away more of their incomes, proportionately, than richer people.
Independent Sector, a nonprofit that tracks charitable spending, found in 2001 that households earning less than $25,000 a year gave away an average of 4.2% of their incomes. Those with incomes of more than $75,000 gave away 2.7%, on average.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest Consumer Expenditure Survey shows a similar trend, with cash contributions to charities generally shrinking as incomes rise:
| All Americans | $5,000 to $9,999 | $10,000 to $14,999 | $15,000 to 19,999 | $20,000 to $29,999 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average income before taxes | $62,481 | $8,082 | $12,606 | $17,483 | $25,001 |
| Cash contributions | $1,633 | $352 | $512 | $792 | $850 |
| Average % of income given to charity | 2.6% | 4.4% | 4.1% | 4.5% | 3.4% |
| $30,000 to $39,999 | $40,000 to $49,999 | $50,000 to $69,999 | $70,000 and up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average income before taxes | $34,762 | $44,734 | $59,253 | $129,151 |
| Cash contributions | $1,202 | $1,419 | $1,607 | $2,878 |
| Average % of income given to charity | 3.5% | 3.2% | 2.7% | 2.2% |
| Source: Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2010 | ||||
These are pretax numbers, but the after-tax numbers are very similar.
What fascinates researchers about these numbers is that they seem counterintuitive. The poorer you are, the less discretionary income you have; most of what you make is eaten up in basic expenses. Logically, the higher-income folks have more discretionary income to give -- but they don't, at least not at the rates that lower-income people give.
Another interesting trend is where the money goes. About 41% of the $89.9 billion donated to charity in 2005 by households with incomes under $100,000 went to causes that helped the poor meet their basic needs, according to a study (.pdf) by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Of the $51 billion donated by households with incomes above $1 million, less than 15% benefited causes that helped the poor. The very wealthy tended to favor health- and education-related charities and to give to religious causes over giving to the poor.
Read more HERE
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