Red states and religious people more charitable, study shows

Of course, we’ve known this since Arthur Brooks’ 2006 book, Who Really Cares?

Fox News reports,

Residents in Republican-leaning states give more of their money to charity than those in Democrat-leaning states, according to a new study.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s study released this week found the eight states with residents who gave the highest percentage of their income to charity in 2008 also voted that year for Republican presidential nominee John McCain. And the seven states in which residents donated the lowest percentage of their income that year voted for President Obama, based on 2008 IRS information.

But it had little to do with McCain or Obama. It was the religious values in the respective areas:

And don’t assume the biggest givers were the wealthier states. Mississippi and Idaho rank among the lowest in the country in per-capita income.

That suggests other factors are involved, and the study’s authors said the reasons for the differences were in part a function of religion and a region’s political philosophy about “the role of government versus charity.”

“Regions of the country that are deeply religious are more generous than those that are not,” the study’s authors said.