Content

Social Capital - Overview

Objectives and Background / Project Conclusion

People and communities with good access to a diverse mix of social capital tend to be more ‘hired, housed, healthy and happy.' Although views about the precise definition of social capital differ, social capital is essentially about the ways in which one's social relationships provide access to needed information, resources and supports.

Public policy interest in social capital has grown worldwide in recent years. The concept has been linked to a broad range of issues including health, labour market outcomes, immigrant integration and diversity management, poverty and social exclusion, crime and safety, neighbourhood revitalization and civic renewal.

Efforts to harness the concept of social capital for policy and program development have been limited by conceptual ambiguities and measurement difficulties. If social capital is to become a practical concept for policy use, we need to operationalize it in a way that allows us to concretely identify what it is, explore its productive potential in achieving broader policy objectives, and identify policy levers for affecting the way it is accumulated and utilized.

This project critically assessed the potential role and contribution of social capital in the achievement of federal policy objectives by working with departments to:

• develop an operational definition and rigorous framework for the analysis and measurement of social capital;
• identify key policy and program areas where social capital may have played an important role in attaining policy objectives; and
• incorporate what we learned into a strategic set of recommendations for testing new approaches, improved measurement, and policy action.

For more information on this project, please click here.