NCoC: Immigrants: A New Wave of Participants?

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Immigrants: A New Wave of Participants?

California 2009 Civic Health Index

November 24, 2009

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California’s massive population of new immigrants has also added another wrinkle to the state’s overall engagement trends. While recent immigrants have historically been less engaged in civic life than native-born citizens, in immigrant-rich California, where more than a quarter of the state’s 36 million people were born outside the country (compared to just over 11% nationally), this seems to be changing.

To be sure, immigrants were slightly less likely to serve as volunteers than non-immigrants, with only 39% saying they had volunteered compared to 45% of non-immigrants. But they were also much more likely to be involved in their communities in other ways. More than one in three immigrants said they had attended a club or community meeting in their
neighborhood, compared to 27% of non-immigrants. Nearly one in four immigrants said they had attended a meeting where a community issue had been discussed, compared to only 17% of non-immigrants. Overall, immigrants were more likely than non-immigrants to say they had worked with others on pressing issues in their community: 19% said they had gotten involved to solve a community problem, compared to 16% of non- immigrants.18

While they were also surprisingly engaged in the state’s civic life, immigrants were also slightly more likely to provide shelter to relatives than non-immigrants: 18% said they had provided shelter to a family member, compared to 16% of non-immigrants. Immigrants were also more likely than non-immigrants to give money to a relative, with 44% of respondents saying they had done so in the past year. Interestingly, they were less likely than non-immigrants to give to someone who is not a relative.19

Who is Volunteering and Engaging in California? • Here to Stay: Groups That Are Most Likely to Remain Engaged

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