Twenty-Nine Percent of Americans Volunteer for Good Causes, New Study Finds

Twenty-nine percent of Americans volunteered in the past year, a percentage that has held steady for the past two years, according to a report released last month by the U.S. government.

However, the amount of time people spent volunteering declined slightly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey found.

Volunteers spent a median of 50 hours volunteering in 2004-5, meaning half volunteered more and half less.

In the previous three years, Americans said they spent 52 hours volunteering.

Some 65.4 million people in the United States volunteered at least once over the 12 months ending in September 2005, the survey found.

The data were collected as part of the federal government’s monthly Current Population Survey, which surveys about 60,000 households.

Age and Marital Status

The survey also examined volunteering patterns by age and marital status. People age 35 to 44 were the most likely to volunteer, with 34.5 percent of Americans in that age range reporting some kind of volunteer activity. Those who were 45 to 54 closely followed, with 32.7 percent volunteering in the past year.

The data also showed that married people were more likely than others to volunteer: Thirty-four percent of married people volunteered, while 23 percent of divorced, widowed, or unmarried people did so. Also, those with children under age 18 in their households were much more likely to volunteer than those without kids: 37 percent of those with children volunteered, compared with 25.5 percent of those without.

Among other findings of the survey:

• One-quarter of men and one-third of women volunteered in the past year, about the same proportions as for the past two years.
• Whites were more likely to volunteer than blacks, Asians, or Hispanics. About 30 percent of whites said they volunteered, while 22.1 percent of blacks, 20.7 percent of Asians, and 15.4 percent of Hispanics reported volunteering.
• Most people reported volunteering for one charity. About 35 percent of those who volunteered said they helped religious organizations, a higher percentage of volunteers than any other type of organization attracted, while about 26 percent volunteered at an educational or youth charity, the second-most-popular type of volunteering.

Copies of “Volunteering in the United States” can be found online at http://www.bls.gov.