America's economic recession is causing a civic depression. As our country loses jobs and wealth, our civic stocks are on the edge of civic foreclosure at the exact time when we need America's volunteer and charitable spirit most. Low-income Americans point the way forward while God, friends, and Facebook provide a civic safety net.
This week, the National Conference on Citizenship releases its fourth annual measure of our nation's civic health, measured by volunteering and giving, connections to civic and religious groups, trust in other people and key institutions, voting and political activity, and other indicators of our engagement and connectedness. On the whole, the picture is not good.
As our nation shed jobs and 12 million Americans flocked to unemployment lines during the first quarter of 2009, 72 percent of Americans reported they cut back on time spent volunteering, participating in groups and doing other civic activities. Sixty-six percent said that people are responding to the current economic crisis by looking out for themselves, while less than one in five believed people around them were responding to the recession by helping others more.
Many hoped that the high levels of political activity in the 2008 presidential election would be sustained beyond the election. While 78% of our respondents reported voting in the 2008 presidential election, only 12% reported contacting an elected official about any issues discussed during the campaign and only one in three tried to persuade friends about such issues.
As civic engagement has plummeted, so too has trust in government and key institutions. Only 6 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in Congress, the Executive Branch or banks and financial institutions. Major companies have seen the largest fall in favor and now occupy the basement of public trust at only 5 percent.
Even though they are disproportionately affected by the economic downturn, people with the least means are giving the most and serve as the example in these tough economic times. When looking beyond traditional volunteering, 39 percent of those making less than $50,000 helped in other ways such as providing food and shelter compared to only 27 percent of those from higher income brackets. Overall, 50 percent of Americans gave food or money to someone in need who is not a relative, 17 percent allowed a relative to live in their home, and more than one in ten extended this hospitality to non-relatives. As specific needs emerged, low-income Americans in particular emerged to meet them.
Participation in religious groups played a major role in keeping us engaged during the economic free-fall, with 40 percent of those who attend religious services frequently reporting an increase in their civic engagement, matched only by those who spend a great deal of time with their friends.
The 9/11 Generation, more commonly known as Millennials, continued to show strong civic habits, outpacing Baby Boomers and leading the way in volunteering and social networking, using new technologies to bridge traditional civic gaps across economic and educational divides.
President Obama has made service and social innovation a "central cause of his Presidency" and should ramp up his efforts to ask Americans how they will connect their personal lives to the story of the nation. He should reinvigorate the President's Council on Service and Civic Engagement so iconic Americans with deep reach into American culture can echo his call.
The Serve America Act, co-sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch and Edward Kennedy and signed into law last April, provides for an annual civic health assessment that will measure and report indicators of our civic life. As the jobless rate remains high, the need for non-profit services soar, and Americans look to one other to fill gaps, a focus on our country's civic life should remain a top priority. We need to turn today's civic foreclosure into a civic renaissance.