CIS - Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas

• According to the 'Trends of associations in Spain' survey carried out by the CIS, 80% of young people between 18 and 24 years old have never belonged to an association
• 61.3% of citizens believe that belonging to a feminist organization is “very or quite useful” to ensure that “public administrations are more active in eliminating discrimination between men and women.”
• Among Spaniards who do not belong to any association, 32% say it is “because they have never thought about it”

The Center for Sociological Research has carried out a survey on associations in Spain, types of associations and their trends.
62.9% of Spaniards affirm that they have never belonged to a civic, cultural, social or political association. On the contrary, 22.3% say they do it currently and 14.6% say they did it at some point.

By sex, 65.4% of women have never belonged to an association. A higher percentage than men, which stands at 60.3%.
By age, citizens between 65 and 74 years old (28%) and those between 45 and 54 years old (25.1%) are those who participate the most in associations. While the lowest percentages of current membership in an association are found in the age groups between 25 and 34 years (12.9%) and between 18 and 24 years (13.8).

Young people are less likely to participate in the public sphere through some association. 80% of young people between 18 and 24 years old have never belonged to an association, a percentage that drops to 53% in people between 65 and 74 years old.

Cultural associations are those that bring together the most people (9.6%), followed by political parties or associations (9.1%) and unions in third place (6.5%).

Dedication time

Of the 22.3% who claim to participate in associations, 16.9% have dedicated more than 20 hours to their association in the last three months, 11.9% between 1 and 4 hours, and 51.4% "not at all." or practically nothing.”

Among Spaniards who have never belonged to any type of association, 32% say it is “because they have never thought about it”, 29.5% because “they do not have time” and 17.5% have indicated “they do not "He is interested in participating in none."

Political parties

36.2% of citizens assure that people who belong to political parties have “a lot or quite a lot of capacity” to choose the candidates on the electoral lists. Furthermore, 33.2% say that members have “a lot or quite a lot of capacity” to participate in the content of the party's political programs.

Unions

59.7% believe that it is “very or quite useful” to belong to a union to “protect and improve the labor rights of all workers”, however, 38.1% assure that it is “little or not at all useful”. And 56.2% affirm that belonging to a union is “very or quite useful” to strengthen their role in society.

Feminist associations

61.3% of citizens agree that belonging to a feminist organization is “very or quite useful” to ensure that “public administrations are more active in eliminating discrimination between men and women.

environmental organization

69.9% of citizens believe that belonging to an environmental organization is very or quite useful in alerting society to the risks of climate change. And 64.6% affirm that it is very or quite useful to mobilize society to protect the environment.

Influence

70.6% consider that political parties have the most influence on political decisions in Spain, followed by business organizations (64.1%) and unions with 49.1%. 45.3% argue that feminist organizations are the most influential. And 37.5% religious associations.

In 5 years…

50.8% assure that environmental associations are going to have much more importance than they have now in political decisions in Spain, followed by business organizations (46.6%) and feminist associations (45.2%). . On the other hand, 47.8% indicate that religious associations will have less influence than now on the country's political decisions.

The data from this survey carried out between January 11 and 24, with a sample of 5,973 interviews, are available to all media and interested people on the website of the Center for Sociological Research (www.cis.es).

Press release