The importance of voluntary work for the volunteers' quality of life

• In Event: Third sector and health

Abstract

In many countries, civil society is ascribed great value as a provider of activities and services as well as for its democratic importance. In the past decade, however, research has also taken an interest in the importance of volunteering for the volunteers' quality of life. A number of studies have shown a significant correlation, and some have demonstrated an effect (see e.g. Casiday et al., 2008; von Bonsdorff, 2011; Anderson et al., 2014).

However, the many studies have, to a small extent, examined whether a possible impact on the quality of life of volunteering depends on the context and content of volunteering; the duration of the voluntary engagement; and the time spent on volunteering. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate this.

The research in this field is based on two theoretical assumptions in particular. Firstly, that volunteering is experienced as particularly meaningful, which contributes to increased self-esteem and personal development (see among others Hansen et al., 2018; Haski-Leventhal 2009; Morrow-Howell et al. 2003; Thoits and Hewitt 2001). Secondly, that volunteering promotes multiple roles, social relationships, and social capital, which lots of research has shown to have a positive effect on quality of life (Morawski et al., 2022).

The analysis is based on data from a digital survey from 2020 of volunteering in Denmark. Of the 15,052 people who were contacted, 48 pct. responded. (Espersen et al., 2021). The dependent variables consist of two measures of quality of life: 'Self-assessed life satisfaction' and ‘Self-assessed health'. The independent variables consist of three groups: (1) Measures of participation in voluntary work – overall and in 14 different areas of society; (2) variables for the context of the voluntary work - organizational and work tasks, and (3) variables for both the duration of and time spent on volunteering. Finally, the analysis includes a number of ‘control’ variables, among others socio-demographic and socio-economic variables.

The statistical analysis finds no correlation between the overall measure of volunteering and self-assessed life satisfaction and self-assessed health but finds a weak correlation with volunteering in certain areas of society. When it comes to the context and content of the voluntary work, the analyzes can only demonstrate a positive correlation between volunteering in a religious community and high self-rated health. But citizens who have volunteered for more than 15 years have a statistically significantly higher probability of high life satisfaction than citizens who do not volunteer. And volunteers who spend more than 30 hours a year volunteering have a higher probability of good or very good health than other citizens.

It can be concluded that the correlation between volunteering and quality of life is weak in Denmark. The correlation applies especially to those who have volunteered for many years and spend a lot of time doing so. It is also likely that a significant part of the relationship is due to 'selection', i.e., that it is mainly citizens with good quality of life who engage in voluntary work.

References

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Author

• Bjarne Ibsen, University of Southern Denmark