Social capital and its role in poverty reduction: a Canadian-based analysis

Abstract

Social capital is receiving attention from the scholarly community as a potential mechanism for reducing poverty and promoting economic well-being. In this study, data are analyzed from Canada's nationally representative General Social Survey in order to estimate the associations between two social capital dimensions; that is, trust and voting behavior, and economic well-being. The results suggest that both generalized and particularized forms of trust as well as voting in national and local elections are positively associated with economic well-being. The policy and programmatic implications emanating from the study's results are discussed and recommendations for future studies are also provided.

Keywords:

• social capital
• trust
• voting
• poverty
• income
• Canada