A survey of British Muslims found that 58% expect to cut back on the money they donate to charity in the next 12 months.
Despite this, it is the area least likely to be affected by British Muslim’s personal spending cuts. The respondents were more likely to make cuts to large purchases (77%) and eating out (76%) than their charitable spending.
The survey sample shows that British Muslims are twice as likely than the general public to say they will give more to charity in the year ahead.
According to the report, British Muslims donate over £1bn a year and represent 6.5% of the population.
The research was conducted by Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) and supported by NfP research.
British Muslim Charitable Giving II: The Impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis was based on a total of 1,092 survey responses from British Muslims.
Muslims are more likely to donate more to charity than the general public
Some 27% of respondents said they would give more to charity next year, 43% said they would give the same amount and 11% said they would give less over the next year.
“It is worth remembering that this could be due to the higher social grade and lower age profile of the sample,” the report states.
However, the cost-of-living crisis has had a clear effect on respondents’ finances, with only 7% of respondents saying they were not worried about their finances.
Two-thirds said they were worse off now than they were six months ago. When asked about their future financial stability, 58% of the sample was concerned about paying their monthly bills, 38% about housing costs, and 39% were worried about having to clear debt.
Fadi Itani, chief executive of MCF said: “This report shows that although British Muslims and other minority groups remain one of the hardest-hit by rising living costs, their dedication to charitable causes remains firm.
“The insight from this report casts a spotlight on UK Muslims and how their giving has been impacted and will make useful reading to all those with an interest in the sector.”
Cost-of-living crisis making it harder to volunteer
The report also reveals 43% of British Muslims said they had volunteered in the last year, either for a charity, other organisation, or in the local community. Some 52% said they had not, while 5% said they did not know.
A third (33%) of the sample said that the cost-of-living crisis has decreased how often they can volunteer.
Nonetheless, 25% said they felt compelled to volunteer more often because of the crisis, whereas 33% said it had not had any impact. The remaining respondents were not sure.
Respondents were asked to pick five of the things they were most concerned about. The top concern for the survey sample was the quality and cuts to NHS services (53%). Islamophobia was second at 38%, and the third highest-ranking concern was their personal financial security.
