Are the Rich Really Less Generous Than the Poor? (Update)

This episode of Freakonomics Radio, updated as part of the Pods Fight Poverty campaign for GiveDirectly, explores the complex relationship between wealth and altruism. It begins with an anecdote about income disparity and questions whether the rich are inherently more selfish than the poor. The episode references studies suggesting the wealthy are more likely to engage in unethical behavior, but also points out that much of this research comes from potentially biased lab experiments. To address these limitations, economists conducted a field experiment in the Netherlands, misdelivering envelopes containing cash or bank transfer cards to both rich and poor households to see who would return them. The surprising results indicated that the rich were more likely to return the envelopes, challenging the initial hypothesis. Further analysis suggested that the poor were not necessarily less altruistic, but rather, their behavior was influenced by the financial stress and constraints of poverty. Ultimately, the study concludes that basic altruism is consistent across income levels, but differing financial circumstances shape behavior.