Israeli Study: Chareidim Biggest Tzedakah Givers

The average chareidi household in Israel donates NIS 457 per month to various tzedakah and chessed causes, a new study shows. That figure was more than double the average NIS 222 donated by non-chareidi Jewish families, a sum that constitutes just 1.2 percent of their income, according to a study by researchers Nitza Keisar and Assaf Zachor-Shai. The findings were based on numbers supplied by the Central Bureau of Statistics for 2014.

According to the study, 75 percent of chareidi households make a donation of some sort each month, compared to 31 percent of non-chareidi Jews. On average, chareidi families donate 2.4 times more often than others.

Due to the imbalance in giving habits, the chareidi population turns out to supply a far larger share of donations than other Israelis. Although they make up under 10 percent of Israel’s population, chareidim are responsible for 20 percent of the donations made in Israel.