SEE ADDENDUM ATTACHED BELOW FOR SURVEY FINDINGS

EMBARGOED until March 1, 2001

At 12:01 am EST Contact: Laura Simoes

· Specific questions about trust elicit similar high responses. We rate above the national average the trustworthiness of our neighbors, our co–workers, our local police and, interestingly, people of other races (on this category we are among the more trusting in the nation).

· Far more than most in this country, though comparable to communities like ours, we believe that "the people running my community really do care."

· We are also less likely than citizens are nationally, or even citizens in communities like ours, to believe that there are barriers to getting involved. NH people dismissed each of these as barriers to getting involved: occupational, inadequate transportation, safety concerns, feeling unwelcome, lack of information, or perceived inability to effect change.

· Our first in the nation primary status probably contributes to our astonishingly high percentage of people who say they have attended a political meeting or rally in the past 12 months –– 25%, compared with 16% nationally and in Communities Like Us.

· Equally important, on one "hot" test issue, NH respondents were less likely than their peers nationally, or in communities like ours, to believe that libraries should not carry disapproved books. Also, NH residents are less likely than the nation to think there is something wrong in the push by immigrants for equal rights.

· The New Hampshire findings confirm the national conclusions that quality of life and happiness are highest in socially connected communities. Only 9% of NH respondents claimed fair or poor health, compared to 15% nationally and 12% in Communities Like Us. When asked whether their neighborhood is "an excellent place to live," 48% of NH respondents said yes, compared with 41% nationally and 47% in Communities Like Us.

· Confirming recent data on political polling in New Hampshire, our residents report being far less conservative than our peers in Communities Like Us. - more-

• While NH’s overall volunteering score does not get the boost that comes in communities that have very high religiously–based volunteering, the people of New Hampshire nevertheless volunteer at the national average, as well as the average for Communities Like Us, in the following areas: school and youth; health care; the poor and elderly; arts and culture and neighborhood and civic associations

According to the Benchmark Survey, in addition to the faith-based factor, longevity in community and social equity, other possible contributors to NH's social capital are use of the Internet, daily newspaper reading and TV watching.

There is considerable speculation that time on the Internet comes as a direct cost of time involved with one's community. NH ranks very high in the country, and

especially among communities like ours, in the percentage of homes that have Internet access, that are on-line for six or more hours a week (19% in NH compared with 14% nationally and in Communities Like Us). However, there is too little experience and research to understand the impact of the Internet on the stock of social capital.

We know that reading a newspaper daily contributes to a person’s engagement in his or her community. NH reports reading a newspaper 3.6 times per week compared with 3.3 nationally, and 3.5 in Communities Like Us.

There is also considerable evidence that TV watching is inversely related to civic engagement. That is, the more people watch TV the less engaged they are. NH people report watching 3.3 hours of television per day, the same as people in Communities Like Us, though the survey found national viewership at 3.8 hours per day.

Participation in activities. Activities that offer both bridging (connecting with others outside of your usual social circle) and bonding (connecting with others with whom you share many traits, interests) are a factor in contributing to high social capital. In New Hampshire, the survey shows some groups and activities with high participation and some with low. The survey asked about level of involvement in 18 different types of organizations. New Hampshire is noticeably high on sports/outdoor activity clubs, literary/arts/music groups, hobby/ investment/garden, and "Other" types of groups. NH is particularly low on non–church religious organizations and service/fraternal organizations.

On two other factors that appear to influence civic engagement – hours per week worked; and time spent commuting to work – NH’s performance is virtually equal to the national norm. On hours per week worked NH is very close to the national average,

reporting 31.4 hours per week, compared to 30 nationally and 31.1 in Communities Like Us. We report a commute time to work that is identical to that reported elsewhere -- 24 minutes.

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In three key findings, New Hampshire presents a very different picture from the national data: the impact of religion and faith-based institutions, the very high percent of people who have moved into the state, and the role of class in social capital.

Religion. Nationally, faith-based social capital -- created from belonging, giving to, volunteering for and spending time at church, synagogue or mosque -- is a major factor in building social capital. Religious involvement is positively associated with most other forms of civic involvement. Even holding other factors constant (comparing people of comparable educational levels, comparable income, and so on), religiously engaged people are more likely than religiously disengaged people to be involved in civic groups of all sorts, to vote more, to be more active in community affairs, to give blood, to trust other people (from shopkeepers to neighbors), to know the names of public officials, to socialize with friends and neighbors, and even simply to have a wider circle of friends. This survey confirms that New Hampshire, similar to the other New England states, is among the very lowest in the nation in religious activity.

When asked whether or not Religion is "very important," only 63% of NH respondents said yes, compared with 84% nationally and 79% in Communities Like Us. We have lower levels of church membership, church attendance, volunteering for church activities, and giving to church charities. Given that New Hampshire does not enjoy the boost that wold be provided by high religious participation, it is all the more remarkable that New Hampshire, on a wide variety of other indices, still scores high.

Longevity in community. According to Putnam's "Bowling Alone," People’s engagement in their community is directly tied to how long they have lived in the community. Recent arrivals are less likely to vote, less likely to have supportive network of friends and neighbors, less likely to belong to civic organizations. The longer you live in a place, the more engaged you are. People who expect to move in the next five years are 20-25% less likely to attend church, attend club meetings, volunteer, or work on community project than those who expect to stay put. Conversely, those most recently arrived in a community are less involved than those who have been there longer.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, New Hampshire ranks fifth highest in terms of percentage of population growth since 1990 that is due to in–migration. New Hampshire ranks 7th highest (of the 50th states) in terms of the percentage of the population that is not native. According to the 1990 Census only 44 percent of the population was born here. Sixty-two percent of the rest of the US live in the state they were born in. Meanwhile, New Hampshire continues to be the fastest growing state in the northeastern United States, and has ranked in the top half of states in the country for growth rate in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s.

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This rapidly growing and changing population presents a challenge to New Hampshire, as it works to retain its high levels of social capital.

Class. "Class" is not a word most of us in New Hampshire are comfortable with, yet social class, as measured by income and education, is one of the most powerful predictors of who gets involved civilly. The higher the education and the income of people the more likely they are to be involved civilly. Nationally, income and education have a large effect on civic engagement. The national survey found disturbingly unequal access to social capital in most American communities. Rates of political participation, social participation, social trust, and the like are quite different in different social strata. In other words, the survey uncovered the social capital equivalent of the "digital divide." Americans who lack access to financial and human capital also lack access to social capital. Quite apart from increasing the level of civic engagement in American communities, we need to attend to its social distribution.

NH leads the nation in the degree to which class has almost no impact in determining who gets involved in civic life and social networks. We are all equally involved -- the butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers are equally involved as the doctors, lawyers and stay-at-home moms. This finding should be extremely encouraging to New Hampshire residents. In New Hampshire we have a very high rate of Social Equity in social capital.

For more information on the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey or the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, contact NHCF at 603/225-6641, or log on to www.bettertogethernh.org (available March 1, 2001).

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ATTENTION MEDIA:

A password-protected site with more details, including full results and a copy of the survey questions can be reached at: www.cfsv.org/communitysurvey.