Individual- and country-level socioeconomic predictors of community group membership across 50 countries in the World Values Survey

Background: Evidence shows that community group activities can support and improve health and wellbeing. However, research into the patterning of community engagement suggests that socioeconomic factors may act as barriers to participation. Yet, because this research has mainly been conducted in high-income, Western and Global North countries, it remains unclear whether these patterns are consistent across different countries and cultural settings, especially in Global South, low-middle income, and non-Western countries. Further, we do not know whether country-level socioeconomic factors influence community engagement. Methods: Data from 64,065 adult respondents in the World Values Survey were analysed to examine the association between individual-level (education, income, and employment) and country-level (years of compulsory education, GDP per capita, Gini coefficient, and unemployment) socioeconomic factors and community organization membership rates. Multilevel regression modelling was used. Further analyses tested the associations between active membership and various types of community organization memberships. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, immigration status, household size and marital status. Results: Prevalence of community organization membership varies across countries. Kenya, Colombia and Mongolia have the highest numbers of memberships and Greece, Russia and Egypt have the lowest numbers. Individual education and perceived household income, and country-level income inequality and employment rate were all positively associated with group membership. Some variations by organization type were observed.Conclusions: We found a universal social gradient in community organization membership, with individual education as the most influential predictor of more memberships across countries. Given that participation in community organizations can improve and support individual and community wellbeing, and plays a role in cultural and social capital development, reducing participatory disparities in these organizations could contribute to the reduction of health and social inequalities.