Christian Millenials are more generous to charities than their non-Christian counterparts based on a study released by LifeWay Research and sponsored by AdelFi last week.
The "Adelfi Study of Financial Attitudes and Practices of Young Adults," as per The Christian Post, involved 905 young adults aged 25 to 40 years old, which is also known as Millenials or Gen Yers. Almost half of the study's respondents--495--were Christians. The goal of the study, which was conducted between January 18 to 22, is to see how Millenials related to money.
LifeWay Research CEO Scott McConnell explained in a statement that Adelfi wanted to understand how Christian youths handled money differently than non-Christians. McConnell also concluded that Christian youths were similar to non-Christians when it comes to striving to do good with their spending. However, the former is more active in donating than the latter.
"One would expect Christians to give more than non-Christians to churches and religious organizations, but they are also more likely to donate to 3 out of 4 other types of recipients. While overall the financial generosity of Christian young adults is very noticeable, there remains a large group who don't practice their belief in the need to give to a local church," McConnell said.
McConnell elaborated that Christian Millenials would donate beyond churches and religious organizations. Almost half of these young adults or 47$ donated to families or other individuals in need. While a majority of non-Christian Millenials or 62% would not give money to families or individuals in need.
Though a majority of the two groups of young adults did not give to online fundraisers such as GoFundMe. Non-Christian Millenials were more prone to decline to give to online fundraisers (80%) as compared to Christian Millenials (73%).
Similarly, non-Christians who do not donate to non-religious charities or educational organizations were found to be at 80% as compared to 71% of Christians who do donate to such institutions. In so far as total donations are concerned, 45% of Christian Millenials compared to 30% of non-Christians admit donating to any kind of charity regardless of it is religious or not.
Spending habits of the respondents showed 59% of Christian youths made it a point to purchase from companies that honor Christ in their actions. A majority or 56% practice tithing in accordance with biblical teaching.
While most or 69% of Christian Millenials believe they must be good stewards of their money. Of the said group, a minority or 48% share the belief that they have the responsibility to purchase from companies that are owned by Christians. Almost half or 44% affirmed that their financial decisions are influenced by their religious convictions.
"Most people want to be financially responsible, and most Christian young adults see this as a responsibility that comes with their faith," McConnell added, "Most of them approach spending decisions with a desire to honor Christ and to be good stewards of their finances all while seeking to do business with companies that help others."
Meanwhile, a study released by the Arizona Christian University last November showed that most Millenials admit not knowing what to do with their lives. Half of the survey's respondents showed that Millenials believe "life is what you make it; there is no absolute value associated with human life." A minority or 22% believe life is sacred.
