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Citizenship Survey

What is the Citizenship Survey?

The Citizenship Survey is a household survey of adults (aged 16 and over) in England and Wales. It asks for views on a range of topics, including participation in voluntary activity and charitable giving. It was carried out in 2001, 2003 and 2005. The latest survey started in April 2007 and will run continuously. Each wave surveys 10,000 adults, with an additional boost sample of 5,000 people from minority ethnic groups.

What is the Citizenship Survey used for?

The Citizenship Survey provides information about levels of participation in voluntary activity; both of a formal nature (through a group, club or organisation) and more informally (helping an individual, who is not a close relative). The survey then explores this participation in more detail.

The survey also asks about charitable giving; identifying whether people have given to charity recently, how much and by which mechanisms.

This data enables the Office of the Third Sector to develop policy around volunteering and charitable giving, and monitor the implementation of this policy. For example, the survey is currently used to monitor progress in meeting the Office's commitment to increase the numbers participating in voluntary activity, particularly those at risk of social exclusion, under the 2004 Spending Review Public Service Agreement target.

The survey also asks about a wide range of other issues, including views about the local area, participation in local decision–making, feelings of trust and influence, and perceptions of racial and religious prejudice. Looking at some of this other data in the context of volunteering can help us understand the wider role that volunteering has.

What does it tell us?

Headline results include:

• Half (50%) of adults in England volunteered regularly in 2005.
• Between 2001 and 2005 the number of people regularly volunteering grew from 18.4 million to 20.4 million.
• More than three quarters (78%) of people in England had given to charity in the four weeks prior to interview (2005).
• The average amount given over that period was £15.

Results in more detail

• 2005 Citizenship Survey: Active Communities [External website]
• 2005 Citizenship Survey: Early Findings  [External website]
• 2003 Citizenship Survey [External website]
• 2001 Citizenship Survey [External website]

Further topic based reports from 2005 can be obtained from the Communities and Local Government website.