In 2002, AmeriCorps developed the nation’s most robust longitudinal data on Americans’ civic engagement and volunteering behavior, the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS provides vital monthly labor force statistics, reliable labor estimates at the state level, and panel analyses at one-year intervals. In 2010, AmeriCorps’ Office of Research and Evaluation led a review of the CPS focused on social capital, civic engagement, and social cohesion. Recommendations based on the review resulted in a new report supplement, the Civic Engagement and Volunteering (CEV), administered biennially starting in 2017.
The CPS CEV Supplement provides valuable insight into America’s civic health over time. The report answers the question, how can we best address the urgent challenges facing our nation in a way that reinvigorates our civic health? This report summarizes top-level findings from the 2019 data set and identifies opportunities for future research. Findings are based on the second wave of CPS CEV responses collected from 139,217 households in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in September 2019.
Key Findings:
The report highlights the following findings:
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The national organization-based volunteering rate has remained stable over the past two decades.
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Consistent with previous research, 2019 volunteering rates vary by demographic, socioeconomic, and familial characteristics.
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Volunteering represents only one dimension of a much larger array of civic engagement in the U.S.
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Several questions raised by the 2019 CPS CEV warrant further investigation.
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The most recent wave of CPS CEV data collected in September 2021 offers unique opportunities to examine the impacts of COVID-19 and policy interventions on America’s civic health.
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