Shanghai might not be giving until it hurts, but it certainly is digging deeper.
A survey on charitable activities released yesterday by Shanghai Statistics Bureau shows that local residents are more generous than they were three years ago.
Among 2,003 permanent residents aged 16 or older who were interviewed by phone, 47.5 percent said they had participated in charitable activities over the last year, a 12.4 percentage increase over the last survey in 2012.
Senior citizens were the most enthusiastic givers of their time and resources, with 50 percent having taken part in charitable activities, 1.7 percentage points higher than citizens between 41 and 60 years old, and 4 percent higher than those aged between 16 and 40.
When asked if they would like to take part in charitable activities, about 84 percent of those interviewed said "yes" and only 10.2 percent said "no."
This time, young people displayed the greatest willingness with 85.2 percent, followed by 84 percent of middle-aged people and 80.5 percent of senior citizens.
About 76 percent of those surveyed said they would like to help others by donating money or belongings, while 17 percent said they would like to do volunteer work.
The older those surveyed were, the more they preferred making donations, while the younger the people were, the more they preferred the idea of taking part in voluntary activities, said the report.
Nearly 81 percent of citizens said they would like to donate up to 1,200 yuan a year and 10.4 percent would like to donate more than 1,200 yuan a year. The rest said they were not sure.
Most young and middle-aged people chose to donate between 241 yuan and 600 yuan a year, while most of those over 61 said they would like to give up to 120 yuan annually.
Helping elderly and disabled people has become the most popular charitable activity, having been chosen by nearly 52 percent, while 49.2 percent said they would like to help disaster victims.
Nearly 40 percent said they would like to help in the area of education.
More than half of the survey respondents said they would like to attend charity events organized by government, employers or schools, while 12.8 percent said they would prefer to attend ones run by private entities, according to the report.
