Charities' income during the Covid-19 pandemic
Administrative evidence for England and Wales
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2116429 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Clifford (0000-0002-5347-0706, University of Southampton, corresponding author), Diarmuid Mcdonnell (0000-0003-4468-1605, University of the West of Scotland), John Mohan (0000-0002-6063-3454, University of Birmingham) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 179-208 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0047279422001015 |
| OpenAlex | W4316039437 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 18 |
This paper provides a detailed overview of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the income of charitable organisations - an under-researched theme within social policy, which thus far has largely focused on the impact of the pandemic on individuals' and households' wellbeing. It analyses a unique longitudinal dataset that follows through time c.90,000 charities in England and Wales. The results, for the first time, illustrate the scale of the pandemic's financial impact on the charitable sector: the median charity experienced a 13% real decline in annual income, while a charity at the 25th percentile of the annual relative growth distribution experienced an income decline of 43%. Importantly these annual declines are much more sizeable than those associated with the Great Recession and subsequent period of public spending austerity. Smaller charities, particularly those with an income under £100k, have been most significantly affected. The declines have been pervasive, extending across most fields of charitable activity, though certain charitable fields have seen particularly acute declines. While there has rightly been considerable emphasis on the important role of voluntary action in responding to the pandemic, this new empirical evidence helps to communicate the extent of the recent challenges faced by the charitable sector
Austerity · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Demographic economics · Development economics · Distribution (mathematics) · Economic growth · Economics · Empirical evidence · Pandemic · Political science · Politics · Recession · Community Development and Social Impact · Medicine · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Religion, Society, and Development
Of Market Failure, Voluntary Failure, and Third-Party Government
Covid ‐19, the Great Recession and social policy
Social policy in the face of a global pandemic
Fiscal Responses to Covid ‐19
Human Services and the Voluntary Sector
The Impact of Reduced Working Hours and Furlough Policies on Workers' Mental Health at the Onset of Covid-19 Pandemic
The Distinctiveness of Smaller Voluntary Organisations Providing Welfare Services
Covid19, Charitable Giving and Collectivism
The English Voluntary Sector
Charitable organisations, the Great Recession and the Age of Austerity
Developing the Mixed Economy of Care
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |