Pathways Through Participation » international

The value of volunteering

Veronique Jochum — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:25:37 +0000

I went to a seminar early November organised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Third Sector European Network (TSEN) to explore the value of volunteering. All the presentations of the seminar are now available on the ESRC website and I believe a summary document will shortly be uploaded. The presentations by the Office of the Third Sector (Sarah Benioff) and the Department of Work and Pension (Zoe Alexander) provided a useful overview of why government supports volunteering and how in the current context volunteering is seen as a pathway to employment. Jeremy Kendall’s presentation from the University of Kent) had some really interesting international comparisons and contained a thought-provoking analysis of the policy context of volunteering and how it has evolved since Beveridge. For more information on Jeremy’s analysis you may also want to have a look at the paper he has written for the Third Sector Research Centre.

Two interesting papers just published from The Center for Nonprofit Management and Strategy

Eddie Cowling — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:34:31 +0000

The first paper explores whether volunteering is ‘work’, a prosocial activity, or a leisure or lifestyle activity. Drawing on a national survey in the US, the author finds the data provided weak support for the idea of volunteering as work or a work substitute. Greater support was found for volunteering as prosocial behaviour or volunteering as a leisure or lifestyle activity. Interestingly however, the strongest results related to the continuity of volunteering over time. Thus, as people age, it appears that lifestyle patterns from earlier in their lives influence the activities they select.
See the paper here

The second paper points out that current ageing policy emphasizes the importance of volunteering and civic engagement as critical elements of successful ageing. It provides a historical overview of this strategy and describes three predictions about civic engagement and volunteerism among baby boomers.
See the paper here

The Internet and civic engagement

Eddie Cowling — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:45:06 +0000

The latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that ‘contrary to the hopes of some advocates, the internet is not changing the socio-economic character of civic engagement in America. Just as in offline civic life, the well-to-do and well-educated are more likely than those less well off to participate in online political activities such as emailing a government official, signing an online petition or making a political contribution’. Interestingly it also finds that those who have used the internet for some form of civic engagement are disproportionately young.