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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Jessica Murray Social affairs correspondent

Covid ‘benevolence bump’ endures as acts of kindness 10% higher than before 2020

Word KINDNESS written in small wooden cubes
The report found that helping strangers was still up by an average of 18% from the pre-pandemic era. Photograph: Michail_Petrov-96/Getty/iStockphoto

The world experienced a “benevolence bump” of kindness during the Covid-19 pandemic that has remained, with generous acts more than 10% above pre-pandemic levels.

The annual World Happiness Report found that in 2024, acts such as donating and volunteering were more frequent than in 2017–19 in all generations and almost all global regions, although they had fallen from 2023.

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