Volunteerism Rises Despite Bad Economy’s Continued Toll, Study Finds

The number of Americans who volunteer grew last year at the fastest rate in six years, according to a new report. That finding contradicted conventional wisdom that hard economic times cause people to spend less time on community activities.

The report, released last month by the Corporation for National and Community Service, says that 63.4 million adults—nearly 27 percent of the American population—volunteered to help charitable causes last year. That was an increase from 2008 of roughly 1.6 million volunteers, the largest single-year jump since 2003.

‘Tilt Toward Problems’

A sign of the economy’s effects can be seen in the growth in people who volunteer for social-services charities. More than 8.8 million volunteers donated time to such organizations last year, up from 8.4 million in 2008.

Patrick Corvington, the Corporation for National and Community Service’s chief executive, says a large number of jobless people may be volunteering to gain work experience. The tough economy has also inspired some people to be more sympathetic regarding the plight of others.

As Americans, Mr. Corvington says, “we tilt toward problems, rather than away from them.”

In total, 2009’s volunteers donated about 8.1 billion hours of service, valued at nearly $169-billion, says the report, which is based on annual and monthly surveys of roughly 100,000 Americans age 16 or older, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

An increase in volunteer rates among women ages 45 to 54 and among married women helped fuel the rise in volunteer numbers. Among black women, volunteer rates rose nearly two percentage points, to 22.8 percent.

The charities at which Americans volunteered stayed fairly consistent from 2008 to 2009. As in the past, the largest percentage of people—more than one-third—gave time to churches or with other religious groups.

Economy’s Influence

The Corporation for National and Community Service’s report also drew some links between the economy and the varying rates of volunteering across the country.

Among large metropolitan areas, for example, four of the five cities with the highest foreclosure rates last year—Las Vegas; Riverside, Cal.; Miami; and Orlando, Fla.—ranked in the bottom 10 in volunteer rates among large cities. And, the report found, states with higher rates of unemployment—such as Michigan and Nevada—had lower rates of volunteering.

But even as the hardships of unemployment spread throughout the country, a slightly bigger share of jobless people donated their time last year than in 2008—22.9 percent, up from 22.3 percent, representing 1.3 million additional volunteers.

What’s more, jobless men showed a larger increase in their volunteer rate (17 percent to 18.2 percent) than men who were employed (25.4 percent to 25.8 percent).

The most common volunteer activity was fund raising, with nearly 27 percent donating their time to raise money for charitable causes.

The report also found that a growing number of Americans—20.7 million, up from 19.9 million in 2008—are volunteering in less-formal ways, such as by helping neighbors solve a problem.

Details about the study are available on the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Web site at http://www.nationalservice.gov.