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Measuring Social Capital in Hamilton, Ontario

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Abstract

Social capital has been studied by academics for more than 20 years and within the past decade there has been an explosion of growth in research linking social capital to health. This paper investigates social capital in Hamilton, Ontario by way of a telephone survey of 1,002 households in three neighbourhood groups representing high, mixed and low socio-economic status (SES). A Social Capital Measurement Tool is proposed as a straightforward way to account for differences in social capital perceptions and actions among residents. Consistent with the literature, the paper found that there was a strong association between social capital perceptions and health, particularly mental health and life stress. Social capital was greater in the high and mixed SES neighbourhoods and much weaker in the low SES neighbourhoods. With respect to social capital actions, both volunteering and voting was associated with positive overall health and mental health. Finally, the paper identified the social capital ‘elite’—respondents with high or above average perceptions and who participated in the two social capital actions—voting and volunteering. Prominent among the social capital elite in Hamilton is the ‘health wealthy’ senior, a positive development for the continued social well-being of the city.

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Notes

  1. The overall voter turnout for the 2010 municipal election was 41 %. An analysis of poll data, however, revealed that voter turnout was higher in the wards associated with the sampled neighbourhoods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McMaster Institute of Environment and Health, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W, Hamilton, ON, L8S 2K1, Canada

    Peter Kitchen

  2. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W, Hamilton, ON, L8S 2K1, Canada

    Allison Williams & Dylan Simone

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  1. Peter Kitchen
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  2. Allison Williams
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  3. Dylan Simone
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Correspondence to Peter Kitchen.

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Kitchen, P., Williams, A. & Simone, D. Measuring Social Capital in Hamilton, Ontario. Soc Indic Res 108, 215–238 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0063-3

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