Only one tenth of the respondents (9.1%) claim not to have participated in any initiative in the past year. Those who remain on the margins of this aspect of social life are mainly women (12.5%), the age groups most active at work (35-44 year olds: 15.0%; 45-54 year olds: 12.8%), managers and technicians (19.4%) and housewives (16.2%). Thus, the core groups of the population that are most engaged at work, women and housewives have fewer opportunities to experience active participation. If a similar proportion (11.3%) only came into contact with one initiative, it is interesting to observe that we are in the presence of a phenomenon of widespread and, consequently, less continuous participation over time. There is a lot of participation, but little adherence. In other words, there is a phenomenon of associative commuting, where a significant part of the population travels to several places, not necessarily close thematically, on the basis of specific instances or interests. Thus, in the last year 32.4% attended between 2 and 4 initiatives and as many as 47.1% more than 5. On the one hand, the multiplicity of the associative offer and occasions pushes people to choose from time to time what attracts or interests them most. On the other hand, it becomes more difficult to capture attention and commitment for a long time, because individual projects are now shorter and more pragmatically oriented.
The phenomenon of associative commuting is also reflected in the profile of participants. As already mentioned, about a tenth of those interviewed do not participate in any associative sphere ('absent': 9.7%). The majority (68.5%) have an 'occasional' participation, i.e. about once a year. The 'interested' (participating at least 2-3 times a year) represent 21.6%. Finally, 'militants' (participate every month) make up a largely marginal share (0.8%). Thus, associations can count on an increasingly small pool of people who work on a permanent basis. Conversely, the number of people who can be aggregated on specific actions or particular initiatives, both in terms of subject and time, is growing.
The level of identification and belonging exclusively to a single association (militants) tends to decrease, while the share of those who participate actively but not continuously (interested) grows. The number of people who are mobilised, but sporadically (occasional) and on a plural number of associative occasions, is larger. Thus, the participation figure is characterised by less exclusive membership, but conversely by plural participation with partial identifications.
