Exploratory Research 2012

Social Engagement in Armenia

Vahe Movsisyan’s paper focuses on specificities of social inclusiveness in Armenia. The main hypothesis of the research is that socially exclusive people have lower level of life satisfaction, are less happy and are more inclined towards permanent emigration. The author has used CRRC Caucasus Barometer survey database (2010) to construct a multidimensional social inclusion index, which describes the level of people’s involvement in social activities. It was found that about 20% of respondents have higher social exclusion level, while about 13% have highest level of social inclusion. The main areas of concentration are social relation field, civic and political engagement and economic life involvement. The author recommends calculating Social Inclusion Index on regular basis for monitoring the change in social inclusion processes in Armenia. Based on the main findings of the study he makes several policy recommendations aimed at increasing the level of social inclusion in our country.