Internet users and veterans are more involved in civic life

Internet use can build civic health, veterans are more likely to be civically engaged than non-veterans and educational attainment is a strong predictor of future engagement. These are among the findings of the just-released 2010 Civic Health Assessment published by the National Conference on Citizenship and the Corporation for National & Community Service.

Although volunteering and voting are two of the most familiar forms of civic engagement, millions of Americans work with their neighbors on local problems, and these are important drivers of civic life.  The study also found:

• People who connect socially with their neighbors and sit down to dinner with their families are more likely to be engaged in service.
• Americans are definitely coming together to overcome our nation's challenges. Between 2007 and 2009, 62 million Americans volunteered through an organization each year.

The World Giving Index 2010, prepared by Charities Aid Foundation, a British charitable financial services organization, found that 60 percent of Americans had donated money to an organization, 39 percent had volunteered their time to an organization, and 65 percent had helped a stranger in the previous month. The U.S. ranked fifth after Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland.