Social Capital
Social capital refers to the strength and usefulness of our relationships with other people, including family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and institutions (such as schools, religious organizations, and civic organizations). Our sense of connectedness and the degree to which we cooperate with others, hold shared values and purposes, and trust one another are all part of social capital. While we often see and respect people as individuals, almost everything we do is accomplished through groups and therefore depends on our social relations. Throughout our history, Americans have been recognized for our active participation in civic groups and public affairs—from town hall meetings to marches—and volunteering for our favored causes. This makes social capital particularly relevant in the United States.
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VolunteerismNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend63%Specific Measure:
Percentage of the population (age 16 and over) who have volunteered through an organization in the past year.
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Trust in Other PeopleNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend73%Specific Measure:
Percentage of adults reporting that other people can generally be trusted.
Measures in green indicate an improving national trend or that we are outperforming at least 80% of countries.
Measures in red indicate a declining national trend or that we are outperforming less than 50% of countries.
Measures in yellow indicate stable trends or that we are outperforming 50-79% of countries.
Summary of Results
With the exception of a brief decline during the COVID pandemic, which precluded many forms of in-person activity, volunteerism has held relatively steady or increased slightly over the past two decades. (Unfortunately, we do not have consistent trend data going back to 1990.) However, we show declining trust in other people, mirroring international trends. On both measures—volunteerism and trust in other people—we are above the average of other higher-income countries, but far from the top tier.
Related Topics
Our “trust in other people” measure is related to social isolation (see the Life Satisfaction section), depression (see the Mental Health section), and a long list of trust measures—mostly focused on trust in institutions, rather than individuals—that can be found in the Trust section. Political polarization may also be related to the decline/stagnation in both social capital measures and is discussed in the Citizenship and Democracy section.
Other Measures Considered
The board also considered, but did not include, other measures, including religious observance, percentage of people receiving emotional support, and percentage of people contributing financially to charity. The public did not support any of these other measures. However, all three of these additional measures received more public support than volunteerism.