Short- and long-term consequences of the Covid 19-pandemic on volunteering. Evidence from Norway.

• In Event: Volunteering in the Third Sector

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic imposed social distancing and reduced economic activity, factors that had large effects on the voluntary sector. Culture- and leisure organizations constitute a large proportion of the Norwegian (and Scandinavian) voluntary sector (Selle, Strømsnes, Svedberg, Ibsen, & Henriksen, 2019), and activities within these fields were particularly hard hit, with strict social distancing measures targeting events, gatherings and activities. As such, the pandemic is well-suited for studying the resilience and sustainability of the various parts of the voluntary sector after a shock. Thus, the aim of this paper is to study a) short- and long-term consequences of the pandemic for volunteering across different parts of the Norwegian voluntary sector, and b) to analyze variations across different segments in the population, based on socio-demographic characteristics and political engagement.
The paper draws, first, on theories about how volunteers and members to varying degrees form bonds to organizations. On the individual level, volunteer retention is likely to be stronger among volunteers who are also a member (Qvist, Henriksen, & Fridberg, 2018). On the organizational level, a similar mechanism is expected in organizations who attract volunteers based on strong commitment to certain values or a cause (Clary et al., 1998; Trautwein, Liberatore, Lindenmeier, & von Schnurbein, 2020). Second, resource theory expects persons with human, social and economic resources may be more likely to be recruited (Musick & Wilson, 2008). However, when it comes to continuing to volunteer, value-based and intensive engagement may be more important (Moreno-Jiménez & Villodres, 2010; Petrovski, 2015). Thus, we expect social inequality in volunteering to decrease during the pandemic downturn, and activity-oriented organizations in culture and recreation to have the largest drop.
The paper draws on population-representative panel data from Norway, targeting more than 1200 respondents over time, before (2019) and after (winter 2022, fall 2022, spring 2023) the pandemic.
The results suggest that in the short-term, volunteering declined at a surprisingly similar rate across all types of organizations, including in sectors such as health and welfare, where one might expect a smaller drop. In the longer term, all sectors experienced a gradual increase in volunteering rates, almost back to pre-pandemic levels. Concerning variations at the individual level, volunteer rates in the short-term dropped disproportionality among those with the highest level of education, which runs contrary to initial expectations. A similar finding has been reported in the UK (Dederichs, 2023). One likely explanation is related to the tough restrictions on leisure activities targeting children, as the data suggests a steep short-term drop in volunteer rates among people with children in their household. Finally, the data suggests that reinforcing effects of civic engagement muted reductions in volunteer rates among the most politically engaged.
The paper adds to both theoretical and practical understanding of which factors that promotes resilience during a short crisis, and that the effects seem to be weak as soon as normal operations can continue.

References

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Authors

• Karl Henrik Sivesind, Institute for Social Research

• Audun Fladmoe, Norwegian Institute for Social Research