Citizenship Survey

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Every two years, the Race, Cohesion, and Faiths Research Unit within Communities and Local Government conducts the Citizenship Survey in England and Wales. This is a door-to-door survey of a random sample of 10,000 adults plus a sample of 5,000 adults drawn from minority ethnic groups.

Contents 1 The 2007 Citizenship Survey 1.1 Active and Empowered Communities 1.2 Community Cohesion 1.3 Racial Prejudice and Discrimination

The 2007 Citizenship Survey

The 2007 survey studied three areas: active and empowered communities, community cohesion, and racial prejudice and discrimination.

Active and Empowered Communities

• The Citizenship Survey found that in April – September 2007, 73% of adults had done voluntary work and 39% had engaged in civic participation (including contacting a public official; attending a public meeting, rally, or demonstration; or signing a petition). Overall levels of volunteering were the same as those in 2001. (Page 2)

• The survey found that 38% of respondents thought they could influence local decisions, and 20% of people thought they could influence decisions affecting all of Great Britain. These percentages are unchanged from the 2003 and 2005 surveys. (Page 4) People from minority groups were more likely than White people to think they could influence decisions. (Page 5)

Community Cohesion

• The survey found that 82% of people thought people from different backgrounds got on well together in their neighbourhood. This number represents a rise from 80% in 2005, and is consistent across genders and ethnic groups. (Page 8) More people felt strongly that they belonged to Britain (84%) than believed they belonged to their neighbourhood (75%), but more people felt they belonged to their neighbourhood than had in 2003 (71%). (Page 9) 47% of people surveyed felt they could trust their neighbours, which is unchanged from 2003. (Page 10)

• When asked which values they thought were most important for living in Britain today, respondents most commonly mentioned, in order, “respect for the law”, “tolerance and politeness towards others”, “equality of opportunity”, and “freedom of speech/expression”. (Page 11)

• 80% of people reported that they regularly mixed socially with people from different ethnic backgrounds. (Page 14)

Racial Prejudice and Discrimination

• The survey found that the percentage of people from minority ethnic groups who expected to be discriminated against by the public services or the criminal justice system (including the police, courts, and prison service) fell since 2001, although the percentage of people from minority ethnic groups who thought career setbacks they’d experienced were owing to racial discrimination had risen since 2003. (Page 15)

• The percentage of people reporting that there is more racism in Britain now than five years ago had risen to 56% from 48% in 2005, although White people were more likely to say that there is more racism now than were minorities. (Page 17)