Aussie women kinder than men: survey


Australia is a slightly kinder country than it was three years ago. Photo: Getty
More Australians want to make their communities a better place, with women more likely than men to act in a kind way, a new study has revealed.
Over the last three years, the number of people who say they want to improve the world around them has increased.
The bad news is that belief about generosity hasn’t always translated into action within their local community.
A Red Cross survey of 1011 people found nearly three out of five Australians are willing to do more to help out.
But there is still a gap between what people say they will do compared to what they actually do.
While nine out of the 10 people surveyed believe we should be kinder to each other every day, fewer than two out of five Australians actually engage with the community.
Even still, Australians still really care about those struggling in their local area, Red Cross chief executive Judy Slatyer said.
That’s proven by the 69 per cent of Australians who say they care about making their communities a better place compared to 65 per cent three years ago.
“We need to create more opportunities to be involved,” she said, pointing to the recent bushfire crisis as an opportunity to help and support those communities ravaged by the climate disaster.
Women really are kinder than men
Women are more compassionate than men and are more likely to do a spontaneous act of kindness for someone in their community, the study found.
Some 84 per cent of women have behaved kindly in the past year, including donating clothes or items to charity, compared with 62 per cent of men.
Women were also more likely to spontaneously act in a kind way towards a friend, family member or colleague at 73 per cent, compared with 58 per cent of male respondents.
The survey also found people over 40 years of age believed everyone should be more kind to others on a regular basis compared with those under 40.
Yet those under the age of 40 are more likely to help vulnerable people in society compared with people over 40.
Adelaide has the best intentions with 93 per cent of respondents saying the country would be a better place if people did one kind thing every day, while South Australia was also the top state for kind intentions too.
Regional NSW topped the list at 78 per cent of people having donated clothes or goods in the past year.
The MevCorp survey was conducted for Red Cross from a sample size of 1,011 Australians over the age of 18, in February this year.
-with AAP