Civic Life In America

Civic Life is, in essence, the common thread of participation in and building of one's community. The 2010 Civic Life in America issue brief and website produced through a partnership between the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the National Conference on Citizenship features national statistics, findings, and trends on civic life.

This information provides data on five themes of civic life, including service, political action, participating in a group, connecting to information and current events, and social connectedness.

Examining civic life by information on the civic element of service which is calculated from the CPS Civic Engagement and CPS Volunteer Supplements questions related to volunteering for or through an organization, working with neighbors to fix a community problem, and attending public meetings where community affairs were discussed.

According to this calculation Americans use service to address critical issues in their communities. For example, an average of 62 million Americans volunteer through or for an organization, equating to 26.6 percent of adults (averaging 2007 to 2009 data).Adults who volunteer are more likely to participate other forms of civic engagement than those who do not volunteer.

Taking an even closer look at the Inland Empire, the graph above shows statistics for this area that were collected within the Riverside Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Major cities in this MSA include Riverside, CA; San Bernardino, CA; and Ontario, CA.

For more information on Civic Life in America visit, http://civic.serve.gov/.

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