Teacher:In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? Solve this instance: (Reuters) - Wealthy Americans contributed less of their incomes to charity while low and middle-income residents gave more in the years surrounding the Great Recession, according to a newly released report by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 
  
 U.S. residents earning an annual $200,000 or more reduced the amount of income they gave to charity by 4.6 percent between 2006 and 2012, while those who earned less than $100,000 a year increased charitable spending by 4.5 percent of their pay over the same time period, said the report, issued on Sunday. 
  
 While wealthy Americans gave a smaller portion of their income, their combined charitable contributions hit $77.5 billion in 2012, an increase of $4.6 billion compared with six years prior, the report said. 
  
 The Chronicle reviewed information from taxpayers who itemized their deductions to include charitable gifts, capturing about $180 billion of gifts to charity in 2012, 80 percent of the total amount given that year. 
  
 It also analyzed contributions by state and city. 
  
 Nevada residents increased the percentage of income they gave to charity by 13 percent, more than any other state, the report said. Idaho, Georgia, Connecticut and Florida also ranked high on the list of increased givers. 
  
 Utah residents gave the biggest chunk of their paycheck to charity, with $65.60 of every $1,000 earned in 2012, the report said. Many residents of Utah, which has a high Mormon population, practice tithing, the donation of 10 percent of income to the church. 
  
 New Hampshire residents gave the least, with $17.40 of every $1,000 going to charity. 
  
 A survey of the four cities with the highest total incomes - Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Washington - showed declines in the amounts residents gave to charity, the report said. 
  
 Of the nation's 50 largest cities, Las Vegas residents were most generous, increasing by nearly 15 percent the portion of their income given to charities. 
  
 Buffalo, New York, residents tightened spending the most, giving 10 percent less of their pay to charities between 2006 and 2010, the report said. 
  
 Overall, the average 3 percent of income Americans give to charity remained the same as it has for decades, the report said. 
  
 (Editing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Dan Grebler) ||||| Even though middle- and lower-income Americans were earning less in 2012 than in 2006, they increased the amount they gave to charity by 4.5 percent, according to a new report from The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 
  
 What makes Americans more likely to give to charity? 
  
 Poorer and middle-class Americans are more likely to donate than are the wealthiest people in the country, according to a report released Monday by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 
  
 Americans give an average of about 3 percent of their income to charity, according to the study. But in recent years, Americans in different income brackets have diverged on the giving scale. Between 2006 and 2012, Americans earning $200,000 or more decreased the amount they gave to charity by 4.6 percent. In that same period, Americans earning less than $100,000 increased the amount they gave by 4.5 percent. And that increase was despite the fact that middle- and lower-income Americans were earning less than they did six years earlier, the report notes. 
  
 Using IRS information, the report looked at charitable gifts that were claimed as itemized deductions. So, is there a unifying factor for high charitable donations? According to the report, the top 17 most generous states all voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election. The most generous state was Utah, which has a giving rate of about 6.6 percent. That state was followed by Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. 
  
 Church attendance also factored into people's likeliness to donate, says Chronicle editor Stacy Palmer. In Utah, for example, residents donated $65.60 to charity for every $1,000 they earned. Utah has a Mormon population of 62.2 percent, according to 2012 Census data. The Mormon Church requires members to give at least 10 percent of their annual income to charity. 
  
 Low levels of charitable giving in some states – New Hampshire having the lowest rate at 1.7 percent – could be attributed to low levels of church attendance, Ms. Palmer adds. The report did not examine giving rates for religious groups other than Christian denominations. 
  
 "Religion has always played an important role in giving," she says. "People who are religious have always had a very strong tradition of charitable giving ... both to the church and to other solicitations." 
  
 She notes, however, that giving in “Bible belt” states has increased among religious as well as secular people. 
  
 Of the most generous cities, Las Vegas held the top spot, increasing its giving by 14.9 percent between 2006 and 2012, the report notes, adding that Las Vegas's growth helped propel Nevada to be the state whose rate of giving grew the most. 
  
 A majority of the country's 50 largest cities saw declines in their giving rates. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y., had the steepest decline, with its rate going down by more than 10 percent. New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington also saw declines. 
  
 While middle-class Americans are giving more, the overall amount given by wealthy Americans increased by $4.6 billion, amounting to $77.5 billion in 2012, after adjusting for inflation, the report notes. ||||| This article was updated on January 13, 2015. See our editor’s note. 
  
 As the recession lifted, poor and middle class Americans dug deeper into their wallets to give to charity, even though they were earning less. At the same time, according to a new Chronicle analysis of tax data, wealthy Americans earned more, but the portion of the income they gave to charity declined. 
  
 Using the IRS data, The Chronicle was able to track gifts to charity at the state, county, metropolitan-area, and ZIP code levels. The data were for gifts to charity among taxpayers who itemize deductions on their tax forms. It captured $180-billion that was given to charity in 2012, or about 80 percent of the total amount given to charity as tabulated by "Giving USA." 
  
 The Chronicle study found that Americans give, on average, about 3 percent of their income to charity, a figure that has not budged significantly for decades. However, that figure belies big differences in giving patterns between the rich and the poor. 
  
 The wealthiest Americans—those who earned $200,000 or more—reduced the share of income they gave to charity by 4.6 percent from 2006 to 2012. Meanwhile, Americans who earned less than $100,000 chipped in 4.5 percent more of their income during the same time period. Middle- and lower-income Americans increased the share of income they donated to charity, even as they earned less, on average, than they did six years earlier. 
  
 Charities, however, are still looking to high-income donors for support. 
  
 Even though wealthier Americans donated a smaller share of their income, the total amount they gave increased by $4.6-billion, to hit $77.5-billion in 2012, using inflation-adjusted dollars. 
  
 The Chronicle analysis also found: 
  
 Editor’s Note: In this and other stories on How America Gives, we used ZIP-code data from the IRS to make comparisons between 2006 and 2012, the only years for which income and charitable donation data were available broken out by income and geography. However, to protect privacy, the IRS suppresses some ZIP-code data when there are fewer than 20 filers in a given income group. As a result, some figures are lower than what they’d otherwise be. 
  
 Since our original report, we’ve updated our interactive with county-level data for 2012, which do not have any data suppressed. Unfortunately, such data are not available for 2006. 
  
 Many of the figures used in this and other How America Gives stories are based on the original 2006 and 2012 ZIP-code data to make those year-over-year comparisons. 
  
 For the latest and most accurate 2012 data, see our interactive. 
  
 Send an e-mail to Alex Daniels. |||||
Student:
Around the Great Recession years, wealthy Americans are giving less of their income to charity while middle- and low-earners give more—and those who supported Mitt Romney for president give the most of all, the Christian Science Monitor reports. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Americans who make over $200,000 gave 4.6% less of their income to charity between 2006 and 2012, and those banking under $100,000 gave charitable causes 4.5% more of their income. Yet the 4.6% less given by the wealthy still amounts to $4.6 billion more annually when adjusted for inflation (perhaps evidence that the rich are getting richer?). Using IRS data, the report found that all 17 states giving the highest income percentage to charity voted for Romney in the last presidential election. Utah tops the list, with a rate of 6.6%, ahead of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. Chronicle editor Stacy Palmer says church attendance plays a role in people's inclination to donate: Mormons, for example, make up about 62% of Utah's population and are told to give at least 10% to charity. "Religion has always played an important role in giving," Palmer says, adding that secular people are also giving more in Bible Belt states. What hasn't changed: Americans are donating an average of 3% of their income to charity, as they have for decades, Reuters reports.