Table 1.

Selected variables used for the measurement of Social Capital and Vulnerability investigated.

Social Capital
Variable	Definition
Religious Congregations per 1000	Congregations may be churches, mosques, temples, or other meeting places. A congregation may generally be defined as a group of people who meet regularly (typically weekly or monthly) at a pre-announced time and location.
Non-religious Nonprofit Organizations per 1000	A secular organization that does not distribute surplus funds to its owners or shareholders, but instead uses surplus funds to help pursue its goals. Most non-profit organizations are exempt from taxes.
Percent Women Currently Married	Share of women ages 35–44 who are currently married and are not separated.
Recreation Establishment per 1000	The number of recreation and leisure establishments in a county per 1000 population. For example, bowling centers and golf clubs would be considered a recreation and leisure establishment. This indicator is distinct from similar variables such as Membership Organizations per 1000.
Associations per 1000	The aggregate for all of the following variables divided by population per 1000: percent religious congregations, percent civic and social associations, percent business associations, percent political organizations, percent professional organizations, percent labor organizations, percent bowling centers, percent recreational establishments, percent golf establishments, and percent sports establishments. This variable is derived from the Penn State Social Capital index.
Membership Organizations per 1000	The number of membership organizations per 1000 population. A membership organization allows individuals to subscribe and often requires them to pay a membership fee or subscription. This variable concerns organizations with a particular purpose, including but not limited to industry, activity, interest, mission, or geographical location organizations.
Mail Back Census Response Rate	The mail return rate is defined as the number of unduplicated nonblank mail returns divided by the number of housing units in the mailback universe that were not deleted, identified as vacant, or had an address identified as undeliverable as addressed.
Religious Adherents per 1000	The adherent figure is meant to be the most complete count of people affiliated with a congregation, and the most comparable count of people across all participating groups. Adherents may include all those with an affiliation to a congregation (children, members, and attendees who are not members).
Percent who get Emotional Support Sometimes, Rarely, or Never	This indicator reports the percentage of adults aged 18 and older who self-report the frequency with which they receive sufficient emotional support. The indicator is relevant because emotional support is critical for navigating challenges of daily life as well as for good mental health. Emotional support is linked to educational achievement and economic stability.
Vulnerability
Variable	Definition
Percent Births to Unmarried Women	The share of births over one year to women who were unmarried, divided by the total share of births to women, regardless of marital status, over that same year.
Percent Children with Single Parent	Single-parent households are classified as “other families.” The U.S. government accounts for two kinds of “other families”: a family with a male householder and no spouse of a householder present and a family with a female householder and no spouse of householder present.
Unemployment Rate	The percentage of the county's civilian labor force, ages 16 or older, that is unemployed but seeking work.
Violent Crimes per 100,000	The number of violent crimes reported per 100,000 population. Violent crimes are defined as offenses that involve face-to-face confrontation between a victim and a perpetrator, including homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Crimes are counted in the police precinct where they occur, rather than the residence of the victim or the perpetrator. This measure only includes the crimes reported to police that are then reported to the FBI.
Percent Births to Unmarried Women	The share of births over one year to women who were unmarried, divided by the total share of births to women, regardless of marital status, over that same year.