Communities
Diversity, Trust & Community Participation in England
This report uses data from the 2003 Home Office Citizenship Survey. It looks at whether relatively high levels of diversity in terms of ethnic and socio-economic groups are associated with low levels of trust and community participation in England.
Title: Diversity, Trust and Community Participation in England
Author: Rachel Pennant
Series: Findings 253
Date published: January 2005
Number of pages: 6
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Six measures of trust and two measures of active community participation were used to determine the key socio-demographic variables shaping trust and community participation:
trust of others in their neighbourhood (generalised trust)
trust in the police
trust in the courts
trust in their employer
trust in Parliament
trust in the local council
civic engagement
formal volunteering.
Results for diversity and trust and active community participation
The findings show that there is no significant relationship between diversity, levels of trust and community participation. However, it did show that people living in areas of high ethnic diversity had significantly lower levels of generalised trust (trust of others in their neighbourhood).
Similarly, the data showed that there is no statistically significant relationship between socio-economic diversity and all the measures of trust.
Neither ethnic nor socio-economic diversity showed any significant relationship with levels of civic participation or formal volunteering.
What are the key socio-demographic variables shaping trust and community participation?
Religion
People who follow a religion were significantly more likely to be trustful or to formally volunteer. However, it was only those who follow the Muslim faith who were significantly more likely to trust their neighbours or to participate in civic activities.
NOTE: Civic engagement includes activities such as signing a petition, contacting a local councilor or public official working for a local council, attending a public meeting or rally, or contacting an MP.
Highest educational attainment
People with qualifications had higher levels of trust and were more likely to participate in civic activities than those with no qualifications.
National Statistics Socio-economic Classification
People in the managerial and professional, intermediate, small employer and lower supervisory and routine occupations were less likely to trust Parliament and the local council. Lower socio-economic groups were also less likely to trust the police and courts. The majority of those who worked (with the exception of those in routine jobs) had higher levels of formal volunteering than those who did not work.
Gender
Women were more likely to have trust in their employer or the police, than men.
Age
Older people were more likely to have higher levels of generalised trust and trust in the police compared with 16- to 24-year-olds. People aged 50+ were also significantly more likely to participate in civic activities.
Ethnicity
Minority ethnics were less likely to formally volunteer, while civic participation was only lower amongst black people. Informal volunteering was however, higher among people from minority ethnic groups.
Generalised trust was lower amongst people from the Chinese/other group, while trust in their employer, in the police and in the courts was lower for mixed race and black people. Contrary to this, people from most of the minority ethnic groups had significantly higher levels of trust in the local council and Parliament, and Asian people were more likely to trust the courts than white people.
Population density
Higher population density areas had lower general trust and trust in their local council. They also tended to have less formal volunteering.
Last update: Tuesday, July 22, 2008