Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The National Youth Social Action Survey was established in 2014 to measure the extent to which 10 to 20 year olds are taking part in social action in the UK. The survey was commissioned by the Cabinet Office in 2014 and 2015 and by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2016 to 2019, and conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the #iwill campaign.

The #iwill campaign, launched in 2013, aims to close the socio-economic gap in social action participation amongst 10 to 20 year olds while increasing overall participation. For the purposes of the campaign, social action is defined as 'practical action in the service of others to create positive change' and covers a wide range of activities that help other people or the environment, such as fundraising, campaigning, tutoring/mentoring and giving time to charity.

The survey captures a yearly snapshot of the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours linked with social action of a representative sample of over 2,000 young people in the UK. The same methodology has been used each year to allow comparisons over time. Data are weighted by age within gender, region and the family socio-economic status to reflect the known profile of the UK population.

The National Youth Social Action Survey, 2016 is the third survey in the series and is also known as Wave 3.

Main Topics:

Young people were asked about their participation in social action (e.g. taking part in fundraising; campaigning for causes), as well as the frequency and duration of participation, their motivations for participating or not participating, and the ways in which they participated.