Indicators of Child, Family, and Community Connections:

Social Connections

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Content

• Neighborhood community
• Community of friends
• Concern for safety
• Residential mobility

Neighborhood community

Eighty percent of adults reported in 2000 that they have people in their neighborhood who give them a sense of community. White non-Hispanics and Hispanics, (82 percent and 77 percent respectively) were more likely than black non-Hispanics (71 percent) to report having people in their neighborhood who gave them a sense of community.

Percentage of adults with people in their neighborhood who give them a sense of community,
by race and Hispanic origin: 2000

Source: The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey 2000, National Survey data (http://www.cfsv.org/communitysurvey/docs/marginals.pdf).

Table 18a.
Percentage of adults with people in their neighborhood who give them a sense of community,
by selected characteristics: 2000

	Percent
Total	80
Race and Hispanic Origin(a)
White, non-Hispanic	82
Black, non-Hispanic	71
Hispanic	77
Age
18-34 years	75
35-49 years	83
50-64 years	82
65 years and over	83
Highest Level of Education
High school or less	79
Some college	80
College degree or more	81
a. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Source: Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, 2000, National Survey data. http://www.cfsv.org/communitysurvey/docs/marginals.pdf

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Community of friends

Eighty-nine percent of adults reported in the year 2000 that they have old or new friends who provide them with a sense of community, regardless of their geographic proximity. While the vast majority of white and black non-Hispanics as well as Hispanics reported that they had a community of friends, white non-Hispanics were more likely than Hispanics to report having such a community, (91 percent compared with 83 percent), while black non-Hispanics fell in between at 86 percent.

Percentage of adults with old or new friends who give them a sense of community,
by race and Hispanic origin: 2000

Source: The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey 2000, National Survey data (http://www.cfsv.org/communitysurvey/docs/marginals.pdf).

Table 18b.
Percentage of adults with old or new friends who give them a sense of community,
by selected characteristics: 2000

	Percent
Total	89
Race and Hispanic Origin(a)
White, non-Hispanic	91
Black, non-Hispanic	86
Hispanic	83
Age
18-34 years	90
35-49 years	90
50-64 years	91
65 years and over	83
Highest Level of Education
High school or less	88
Some college	90
College degree or more	90
a. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Source: Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, 2000, National Survey data. http://www.cfsv.org/communitysurvey/docs/marginals.pdf

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Concern for safety

In 2000, twenty-seven percent of adults listed concern for their safety as either a somewhat or very important obstacle that made it difficult to be involved in their community. This concern was greater among those with less education. Thirty-two percent of those with a high school degree or less reported concern for their safety as an obstacle, compared with 18 percent of those with a college degree or more.

Percentage of adults who list concern for their safety as an obstacle
that makes it difficult to be involved in their community,
by level of education: 2000

Source: The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey 2000, National Survey data (http://www.cfsv.org/communitysurvey/docs/marginals.pdf).

Table 19.
Percentage of adults who list concern for their safety as an obstacle
that makes it difficult to be involved in their community,
by selected characteristics: 2000

	Percent
Total	27
Race and Hispanic Origin(a)
White, non-Hispanic	26
Black, non-Hispanic	37
Hispanic	28
Age
18-34 years	31
35-49 years	25
50-64 years	24
65 years and over	29
Highest Level of Education
High school or less	32
Some college	29
College degree or more	18
a. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Source: Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, 2000, National Survey data. http://www.cfsv.org/communitysurvey/docs/marginals.pdf

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Residential mobility

In 2002, sixteen percent of families with children reported that they changed residence in the past year. Residential mobility varies by poverty status and family structure. Twice as many families with incomes below the poverty line moved, compared with families with incomes at or above the poverty line (29 percent and 14 percent, respectively). In addition, twice as many single-parent families moved compared with two-parent families (26 percent and 13 percent, respectively).

Percentage of families with children under age 18 that moved in the past year,
by poverty status: 2002

Source: Child Trends' analyses of March 2002 Current Population Survey data.

Table 20.
Percentage of families with children under 18 that moved in the past year,
by selected characteristics:^(a)2002

	Percent
Total	16.2
Family Structure
Two parents(b)	12.6
One parent	25.5
Poverty Status
Below poverty	29.1
At or above poverty	14.3
Age of Youngest Child
Under 6 years	21.9
6-17 years	11.8
a. A family was considered to have moved in the past year if its family reference person reported changing residences in the past year. b. Estimates of two-parent families include only married couples, and exclude families with unmarried partners. Families with unmarried partners are included as one-parent families. Note: This analysis excludes related and unrelated subfamilies. For this reason, it is possible that residental mobility among families in households is slightly underestimated. Source: Child Trends' analysis of March 2002 Current Population Survey data.

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