Research on volunteering in Eurofound key findings and challenges of measuring it. Klára Fóti Research Manager Eurofound

Transcription

1 Research on volunteering in Eurofound key findings and challenges of measuring it Klára Fóti Research Manager Eurofound

2 Outline Introduction Data: from one of our surveys, the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) a short description Questions and results from the 2 nd EQLS conducted in 2007 Recent data: the 3 rd EQLS (fieldwork in 2011) Conclusions: key challenges with measuring volunteering

3 European Quality of Life Survey Distinctive characteristics: Views quality of life in terms of the well-being of individuals, both global and domain Assessed in terms of outcomes and experiences (objective), but also how people feel about their lives (subjective) Multidimensional, but core focus on domains of employment, economic resources, family, housing, community and health and specifically on the inter-relationships between domains (e.g. work and family, health and economic situation) Addresses the quality of society in terms of quality of services and environment, social capital and societal relations. 13/06/2013 3

4 EQLS: key features Representative survey of 18+ country residents in private households Stratified multistage sampling (regions settlements - PSU addresses - individuals) Input harmonised survey (common Q aire for face-to-face interview) Country coverage Sample size Total # of int. in EU27 26,000 31,500 35,000

5 Questions and results from the 2 nd EQLS (2007)

6 Question on frequency of volunteering in the 2nd EQLS (2007)

7 Frequency of participation in voluntary and charitable activities by EU Member State (%)

8 Frequency of participation in voluntary and charitable activities by age and country grouping

9 Extent of unpaid work and volunteering by those in employment, by gender, EU27 (%)

10 Time spent unpaid work and volunteering

11 Time spent volunteering Time spent volunteering, by socioeconomic characteristics and country grouping Time spent volunteering by country group, gender, household type and age

12 Satisfaction with time spent volunteering and other activities

13 Too little time for activities of daily life, by gender and (couple) composition of household, EU27 (%) *Since a quarter of men and women answered Don t know to the question about taking part in voluntary activities or political activities, these answers are excluded from the figures.

14 Third EQLS questions and results

15 Questions on frequency in EQLS of

16 Involvement in unpaid voluntary work by type and frequency

17 Male by age groups Female by age groups Community and social services Education, cultural, sports or professional 5.4% 4.2% 4.6% 8.0% 7.2% 6.3% 6.2% 7.0% 8.7% 7.6% 15.9% 10.3% 10.9% 10.9% 8.8% 11.1% 8.7% 9.9% 8.7% 4.9% Social movements 2.1% 3.2% 3.1% 4.2% 3.3% 3.3% 3.1% 3.4% 3.5% 2.8% Political parties, trade unions 1.7% 1.8% 2.6% 3.5% 1.8% 1.4% 1.4% 1.3% 2.3%.8% Other voluntary organisations 2.8% 3.7% 3.3% 4.6% 4.6% 3.7% 3.6% 3.7% 4.4% 4.7%

18 Satisfaction with time spent volunteering and other activities

19 Satisfaction with time spent volunteering by frequency of participation 100% 90% 22% 28% 23% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 67% 63% 70% Spend more time As much as I currently do Spend less time 30% 20% 10% 0% 11% 9% 8% Does not volunteer Volunteers occasionally Volunteers regularly

20 Satisfaction with time spent volunteering by gender and age Male Female Total Spend less time As much as I currently do Spend more time > > >

21 Some lessons learnt Definition is crucial when measuring volunteering. For example, it should be clarified whether it is attached to an organisation, and what type of activity is in focus; Voluntary activity is special, therefore it should be asked in a separate question, (frequency, time spent, etc.), even if it shows similarities with other unpaid work activities However, relationship with other unpaid work activities is of importance, therefore should be analysed

22 Conclusions/dilemmas Valuable data could be gained from a comparative survey, devoted specifically to volunteering is it too expensive? Alternatively, and because trends are important - questions on voluntary activities in regular surveys/data collection (e.g. in ESS, EVS, plus census/microcensus?) Data matching with registration of voluntary organisation is this feasible in all MSs? Apart from frequency, time, satisfaction with time spent, other topics, such as economic value, recognition, preconditions, reasons for non-participation, key motivations and obstacles should be examined

23 Thank you for your attention!

24 Some information on the 3 rd EQLS

25 EQLS 2011 questionnaire contents Number of items Work (employment and job quality) Work-life balance Accommodation (9) and neighbourhood (13) Participation in society Quality of society (trust and tensions) Subjective well-being Family and social support network Health Quality of public services Economic strain and deprivation (Income Background (educ., citiz.)

26 EQLS publications and data Overview report (2012) Based on EQLS results in EU27 Analytical reports (2013) Survey results on SMT (end2012/13) Data file (2013) Trends in quality of life Subjective well-being and quality of life Quality of society and public services Social inequalities in quality of life Expected: autumn 2013 Check EF web-site Freely available 26 on UK Data Archive (university of Essex)