Official Statistics

Community Life Survey 2020/21 - Civic Engagement and Social Action

Analysis of questions from the Community Life Survey 2020/21 related to civic engagement and social action

From:
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Published
29 July 2021

Applies to England

Documents

Civic Engagement and Social Action - Community Life Survey 2020/21

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Details

Background

The Community Life Survey collects information about whether adults (16+) have participated in civic engagement and social action.

This chapter focuses on people’s involvement in activities influencing political decisions and local affairs, looking at levels of engagement, as well as people’s feelings around being able to influence local decisions and what would make things easier to do so. Activities could be in the form of engaging in democratic processes, such as signing a petition or attending a public rally, becoming a local councillor or school governor, being involved in decision-making groups or getting together to support community projects.

The definitions of civic engagement and social action given in this section are reflective of the questions asked within the Community Life Survey. However these definitions may differ to those used elsewhere.

Headline Measures – 2020/21

  • 41% of respondents have taken part in civic participation, 19% in civic consultation, and 7% in civic activism. These values were similar to those in 2019/20.

  • Both 2019/20 and 2020/21 figures for civic participation (both 41%) were higher than in 2018/19 (34%).

  • 27% of respondents agreed that they could personally influence decisions in their local area, a similar figure to 2019//20.

  • 14% of respondents had been involved in social action, a significant decrease compared to 2019/20 where 16% of respondents reported involvement. This is also significantly lower than in 2013/14 (19%).

Further data

Published 29 July 2021