Economic Recession and its Impact on Volunteer ActivityNew Hampshire 2009 Civic Health IndexNovember 16, 2009
 states across the nation, New Hampshire respondents were more likely than other Americans surveyed to report firsthand experience of economic difficulty. Fourteen percent of New Hampshire respondents reported losing their job in the twelve months prior to the interview, and 15 percent reported that this household member. Many more—a substantial 23 percent— had difficulty affording food or medication, and 6 percent had trouble paying their mortgage. By contrast, only 9 percent of respondents nationwide reported losing their job, 17 percent had difficulty affording food or medication, and just 3 percent had mortgage troubles. Whether prompted by the recession or not, many New Hampshire residents reported that in the past year they had helped relatives (42 percent) or non-relatives (52 percent) by giving them food or money, and several had a relative (22 percent) or non-relative (17 percent) live in their home (see Figure 5). Churchgoing respondents stood out as the most likely to help others, both relatives and non-relatives, with food or money, and women (51 percent) were significantly more likely than men (34 percent) to report helping out a relative with food or money. Over two-thirds of the respondents (72 percent) said that they had cut back on the time they spent volunteering. On the other hand, over one in four (28 percent) reported increasing, though mostly to a small extent, the time spent volunteering. Weekly churchgoers and those with some college education were less likely than others to cut back on their volunteering. Although nationwide, Granite Staters were as likely as other Americans (72 percent) to cut back on volunteer time, they were more likely than Americans in general to help relatives (22 percent/17 percent) and non-relatives (17 percent/11 percent) by giving them a place to stay. Community Response to Economic Strain The New Hampshire community spirit also came to the fore in respondents’ assessments of how their community has responded to the economic situation. Over a quarter said that people are helping one another and serving the community more (25 percent compared to 19 percent nationwide); one in ten reported a revival of earlier service traditions (11 percent compared to 7 percent nationwide); and over a third said that there is greater discussion of how economic issues affect schools and other community institutions (33 percent compared to 29 percent nationwide). No doubt, community discussion is fueled in part by the economic urgency of reduced school budgets: over one-third (35 percent) of New Hampshire residents said that there had been staff and budget cuts in their local schools, 25 percent reported no change and others (38 percent) were unsure whether or not their local schools faced budget pressures. Despite the increase in needs due to the impact of the recession, a substantial 17 percent of Granite Staters said that while they wished they could do something to help the community, they were unable to find ways to do so; this was by and large true of a similar proportion of Americans nationwide (14 percent). At the same time, and not necessarily at odds with the strong tradition of community care in New Hampshire, close to two-thirds of residents (65 percent) said that people in the community were responding to the economic situation by looking out for themselves and their families. A similar view was echoed by Americans (66 percent) across the nation. New Hampshire residents express confidence in their state’s civic tradition, with almost one-third (31 percent) believing that the state’s civic tradition is stronger than elsewhere. American in others states (13 percent) are less likely on average to express this view of their home states. Granite Staters’ positive assessment of their civic commitment is borne out in their relatively greater willingness compared to other Americans to make efforts to help everyone get through these tough economic times. Over a third said they were very willing to buy American products (35 percent), and over a quarter (27 percent) were very willing to give more money, food, and clothes to the needy. Fewer— though still more than was the case nationally—were very willing to work fewer hours to save jobs (17 percent), to work with others to change government policies (13 percent), to volunteer more (12 percent), and to give more money to charity to help the poor (8 percent) (see Figure 6). People’s willingness to help others is likely to be impacted by the everyday economic and other practical constraints and opportunities they face. Given the positive association between education and income, it is not surprising that respondents who had some college education or who had graduated from college were significantly more likely than those with a high school credential (or less) to say they were very willing to give more money, food, and other goods to charities, to increase the amount of time they themselves volunteer, and to work with others to change government policies. Women were more likely than men to express a strong willingness to give more money (42 percent versus 32 percent) and food (81 percent versus 58 percent) to charities and, important to note given women’s traditional role as the primary buyers for the family household, to say that they were very willing to make an effort to buy American-made products (76 percent versus 64 percent). A willingness to give and to help and work with others—but not to work fewer hours to avoid others’ being unemployed—was also significantly more characteristic of churchgoing than of non- churchgoing respondents. Although there were few generational differences in our data, one was striking: Members of the millennial generation— those born after 1980 and who are currently 15 to 29 years old—were less likely than older cohorts to express a strong willingness to give more food and money to charities helping the needy. This finding needs to be interpreted with caution. It may be that young people have relatively less disposable time and money than older Americans rather than simply indicating a greater personal selfishness. Indeed, almost half (49 percent) of all the millennials in our study report being engaged in volunteering, a proportion that is slightly higher than for other age groups: generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1979) – 43%; baby boomers (born between 1945 and 1964) 40%; or seniors (born before 1945) 42%. (These differences are not statistically significant.) Continue Reading If you like this kind of content, sign up for an NCoC.net account and we'll customize your homepage recommendations based on your interests..
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