Eurofound launches a resource pack on ‘Volunteering – a force for change’:
Is volunteering for everyone?

(DUBLIN, IRELAND) More than one in five are involved in volunteering, according to new analysis from Eurofound, the Dublin-based EU Agency. The findings show that a person involved in volunteering is most likely a middle-aged, well-educated male with a higher income – and is most likely to volunteer in sport activities. The resource pack entitled ‘Volunteering – a force for change’, out today, looks at the phenomenon of volunteering across the European Union, and provides insights into differences between countries, how companies encourage volunteering, and makes a case for using volunteering as a measure to include elderly people in society.

The European Year of Volunteering emphasises the relevance of volunteering for all nationalities and social groups. But the popular conception of volunteering is of a primarily middle-class activity, which doesn’t engage older people. In addition, in some Member States there has traditionally been little involvement in volunteering, reflecting a lack of trust in civil society organisations. Data from both Eurostat’s Standard Eurobarometer 2010 and Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) cast more light on the phenomenon of volunteering.

The EQLS data indicate that, in general, people with higher incomes are more likely to volunteer, as are those with higher levels of education and better health. There is no strong association with gender overall, but men in the EU15 tend to participate more than women. While age is not a major factor, it does appear that people aged between 35 and 64 are more likely to volunteer than those who are younger or older. The Eurobarometer study looks at the areas in which people volunteer. Its data underline the importance of volunteers in supporting sports activities: some 80% or more of those who provide services in the field of sports are volunteers. The other major areas in which volunteers are active are education and culture, social welfare and religious or church organisations.

The formerly communist countries of central and eastern Europe provide a good example of how strongly volunteering is influenced by political and social traditions. These countries’ communist legacy did not favour a culture of volunteering. However, nowadays, participation in voluntary and charitable activities in some of the new Member States (NMS) is above the EU average, as indicated by data from the EQLS – albeit with large cross-country variations. For instance, in Estonia more than 30% of citizens participate, as against slightly fewer than 10% in Poland.
Eurofound’s new resource pack on volunteering in the EU is available at http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/resourcepacks/volunteering.htm

For further information, contact Måns Mårtensson, media manager, on email: mma@eurofound.europa.eu, telephone: +353-1-2043124, or mobile: +353-876-593 507. 

Notes to the editor
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is a tripartite EU body that provides European social policymakers with comparative data, research and recommendations.
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