Amid terrorism threats and world conflict, Americans wanting to help poor children appear more prone to spend their charity dollars within the U.S. than overseas, according to a survey just released today by Compassion International.

The Barna Research Group conducted the OmniPoll 2004 survey for Compassion. It found that by nearly an 8-to-1 margin, Americans indicated they would prefer to give money to alleviate poverty in the U.S. rather than overseas (77% to 10%, respectively). This giving gap increased from last year, when 15 percent said they would prefer to give money overseas. In 2003, Americans supported domestic poverty relief over international relief by a 5-to-1 margin.

"It appears that Americans often don't understand the scope of the problem in developing countries," said Dr. Wess Stafford, president of Compassion International. "People lack the resources that we enjoy. and there's no government safety net to help them."

The survey also indicated that most Americans (65 percent) believe parents of the poor bear most of the responsibility for helping impoverished children while a slightly larger group (68 percent) said governments should be taking care of those in need in foreign countries.

"The latest findings point to the overwhelming need we have to educate Americans about children in poverty," Stafford said.  "For example, many parents in developing countries are unemployed or living on less than $2 per day. Governments in developing countries simply don't have the resources of the American government. Food stamps and state welfare programs generally don't exist. Compassion wants to educate the American people on ways they can help children in poverty. We don't ever want someone to not do something because they didn't know how to help."

In recent years, it has been estimated that between 25,000-30,000 children under the age of five die every day because of malnutrition and disease.

Morompi Ole-Ronkei, child ministry manager with Compassion International, echoes this reality. "Having grown up in Kenya and as a member of the Maasai tribe, I have seen the struggles of children and families living in poverty. Each day holds a struggle to access clean water, to avoid diseases like malaria and tuberculosis and to find something to eat. A simple illness or injury can be life threatening when you have no ability to obtain medical care."

"Our long-term tracking of Americans' charitable behavior shows that their preferences swing back and forth between international and domestic causes," says David Kinnaman, vice president, Barna Research Group, Ltd.  "Now, the pendulum is pointing toward even greater insularity and, consequently, less charitable involvement in global affairs."          

Compassion International is one of the nation's largest child development organizations, working with more than 65 denominations and many indigenous church partners in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Since 1952, Compassion has touched the lives of more than one million children. For information about sponsoring a child, contact Compassion via its web site (www.compassion.com) or by calling (800) 336-7676.

The Barna OmniPoll included 1,011 telephone interviews conducted among a representative sample of adults over the age of 18 within the 48 continental states from September 16 through September 22. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The Barna Research Group, Ltd. is an independent marketing research company located in southern California. Since 1984, it has been studying cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.

Editor's Note: Compassion's Dr. Wesley Stafford will be available to speak with reporters about the Barna poll and other children's issues. For more information, contact Phillip Roth at (972) 267-1111.