Opinion: Empathy Gap a Factor in Rich’s Lower Giving Rate

An author of a new book on giving in America examines why the wealthy contribute a smaller percentage of their income to charity than do poorer people in The Atlantic magazine.

Some experts say that “the personal drive to accumulate wealth may be inconsistent with the idea of communal support” and that direct exposure to need—which the wealthy are more likely to lack—stimulates generosity, writes Ken Stern, former head of NPR and author of With Charity for All: Why Charities Are Failing and a Better Way to Give.

Greater identification with the challenges of meeting basic needs may create “higher empathy” among low-income people, Patrick Rooney, associate dean at the Indiana University School of Philanthropy, tells Mr. Stern.