​Annual Charities Aid Foundation report suggests 10% more women regularly give to good causes compared with men

Men are much less likely to give to charity than women new research suggests.

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) statistics reveal just over half of men in the UK give to good causes in a typical month compared with 63% of women.

Its UK Giving report says men are less likely than women to be involved in supporting causes across all types of giving, including volunteering, donating money and sponsorship.

UK Giving, is an annual in-depth study made up of interviews with people from across the country. This year it has been expanded to include questions that go beyond giving money, looking at other ways people may choose to support causes, as well as their motivations for doing so.

The report estimates that Britons donated £10.6bn to charity in 2014.

Charities clearly need to do more to motivate certain groups of society to get involved with charities in their communities, especially younger men

Eight out of 10 people surveyed did at least one charitable giving or social action in the last 12 months, with over half (57%) having done so in the last month.

There has been a rise in the proportion of people giving money to overseas causes over the past year, possibly due to high-profile appeals such as the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ebola campaign. A higher proportion of donors also report giving to animal charities in 2014.

Poorer people appear tended to give a higher percentage of their income. Those earning under £9,500 giving away an estimated 4% of their income last year, compared to those with an income over £25,000, who gave 1% to good causes.

When asked about the potential barriers to giving, 70% agreed that they would be more inclined to give if they knew how the money was directly helping.

Over two-thirds said there were so many charities it was difficult to choose, and just over half worry that if they give they will only then be asked for more money.

John Low, chief executive of CAF, said: “Britons are inherently generous and it’s great to see so many people continuing to give up their money, their belongings and their time, or sponsoring others to help the causes closest to them.

“UK Giving is now bigger and better, looking far beyond the financial side of being charitable to explore the who, what, how and why of our support for charities across the country.

“Charities clearly need to do more to motivate certain groups of society to get involved with charities in their communities, especially younger men. Fundraisers such as Movember and Tough Mudder have gone some way in catching the imagination of this group over the last few years, but there is clearly still some way to go.

“Many people remain concerned that the money they donate may not be used to best effect, and charities must ensure they are properly communicating the achievements of their work to the people whose funding make it possible.”