The Latest
Supplemental Data for Social Capital Index
The Social Capital Project is pleased to provide new social capital index and subindex estimates for metropolitan and micropolitan areas (Core Based Statistical Areas, or CBSAs) and for commuting zones (CZs).
The Geography of Social Capital in America
Social capital is almost surely an important factor driving many of our nation’s greatest successes and most serious challenges. Indeed, the withering of associational life is itself one of those challenges. Public policy solutions to such challenges are inherently elusive. But at present, policymak...
Rising Unwed Pregnancy and Childbearing across Educational and Racial Groups
Nonmarital childbearing has increased dramatically in the United States. In 1960, roughly 5 percent of births were outside of marriage. Today, over 40 percent of children are born to single mothers. This trend is troubling, considering that children are on average at-risk for poorer outcomes when ra...
Further Thoughts on Volunteerism Trends and Data Issues
In an analysis last year, Volunteerism in America, the Social Capital Project found that rates of volunteerism have either held steady or risen over the past forty years—a rare indicator of the health of our associational life that has not worsened over the period. Our initial report, What We ...
A Future Without Kin?
At the Joint Economic Committee’s hearing on social capital in America, Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam highlighted a looming problem that has flown under the policy radar. Many people know that we face a challenge of providing elder care for baby boomers. But what is less recognized...
Love, Marriage, and the Baby Carriage: The Rise in Unwed Childbearing
The most intimate and central form of associational life is the family—an institution with primary responsibility for nurturing children and transmitting values, knowledge, aspirations, and skills to subsequent generations. A healthy family life is the foundation for a healthy associational li...
The Class Divide in Marriage
The American Enterprise Institute recently published a new report by Brad Wilcox and Wendy Wang that highlights the class divide in American marriage. As the authors explain, prior to the 1970s family life looked similar across socioeconomic levels, but today there are stark divides across class whe...
The Numbers Behind the Opioid Crisis
In 2016, roughly 64,000 people died from drug overdoses, and opioids accounted for nearly two-thirds of those deaths. It is difficult to comprehend the full scope and magnitude of the opioids crisis, its causes, and its consequences—for families, communities, and workplaces. But better underst...
Social Capital, the Opioid Crisis, and Deaths of Despair
Today, the Social Capital Project released a new video promo for our work on opioids and deaths of despair. The video (embedded below) is narrated by Senator Mike Lee, Vice Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, which houses the Social Capital Project.
Volunteering in America
Few countries are as generous as the United States when it comes to volunteering. One quarter of Americans donated time to an organization in 2015. One need look no further than the outpouring of assistance in response to recent natural disasters for powerful illustrations of American civic-mindedne...
