What Makes for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy? The Case of the Childless Elderly in Germany and the U.S.

Abstract

It has been suggested that the growing number of childless elderly may develop into charitable donors and pioneers in the field of a post-familial civic engagement. They may do so by giving to existing charities or by setting up their own philanthropic foundations as an alternative to consumption and bequests. The paper asks under which circumstances the childless elderly will engage in such forms of civic behaviour. This question is discussed in light of the available research on civic engagement and charitable giving in Germany and the US. It is shown that charitable giving of the childless elderly depends on the institutional regime under which they live, on their educational level, the extent to which they are integrated within personal and civic networks, on their religiosity and the state of the art of fundraising in the country in which they live.