Youth Volunteerism on the Rise

Are you getting involved as a volunteer offline? According to a new study by the Corporation for National and Community Service, if you are a member of the Millennial generation it is a lot more likely you just answered, "Yes!" Working with the community service organization Democrats Work I already knew this, but now we have more data to back it up.

The study looked at regional differences in volunteerism: Minneapolis-St. Paul came out on top, Miami came in last among the largest cities; Utah was tops among the states. But it also opened a window into how age differences change volunteer choices and how those choices have changed between the generations.

After a large drop off in volunteering among the members of Generation X, the Millennials are embracing public service in numbers not seen since the Boomers.

Baby Boomers will double the number of older American volunteers in the coming decades and young people are volunteering at higher rates than the last generation. "We have an unprecedented opportunity to seize this moment and usher in a new era of service in America," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation.  "By giving us a look under the hood of U.S. volunteering, this research shows what we need to do to recruit and retain tomorrow’s volunteers."

"Recruit and retain"

Democrats rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina

Retention is increasingly a problem. More people are volunteering for the first time, but organizations are not doing a good job of keeping them in place. Unlike in the past when church-based organizations gave a more permanent base for volunteering, the new volunteerism is finding expression in more temporary opportunities, including "done in a day" projects. Among youth volunteers in particular, there is a growing segment that engages in "voluntourism" by heading many miles from their homes to perform service. They are more able than their rooted elders to respond to disasters like Hurricane Katrina, and while this underscores a deep civic engagement, it may also contribute to a more epsiodic, less consistent, participation.

In trying to explain Florida's low volunteer rate to the Associated Press, some Miami residents offered this:

Ani Olmeda Gonzalez at Mercy Hospital said the tough economy was forcing some would-be volunteers to choose paid work instead. Charlotte Donn at YMCA of Greater Miami noted the city is home to many transients. And Cathy Agosti of VITAS Innovative Hospice Care noted what many others repeated.

"Busy lives," she said. "Busy lives."

Florida is by no means unique in those ways, so are those explanations even true anywhere? Not geographically, at least. The choice between a busy life of paid work and giving time to the community is not a trade-off most people are making. The study showed that on average people who volunteered in the last year also spent as much time at their jobs as the people that didn't. Where did they find the time? The answer appears to be "television."

People who had volunteered in the last year watched an average of 15 hours of television a week. People who had never volunteered watched an average of 23 hours a week. Stretch that over a year and you have more than 436 extra hours to work with. Volunteers seem to need the artificial interaction of television far less. They also reported spending much more time engaging in social activities and ate fewer meals alone. Some of these numbers are being moved by the Gen-X families. When kids are in the picture, the parents volunteering hours move sharply upwards as they give their time to school and childcare related causes. At every age, however, having a job, a family, or busy social life actually meant more hours being donated. Working moms and college towns led the pack every time.

Although on average, there was not a trade-off between a paycheck and service, age did seem to be a factor. Young people were more likely than older people to cut back on work hours in order to give.

Democratic  political volunteers, rallying to feed the homeless

As Generation X ages, it seems unlikely that they will suddenly start contributing at the levels that the Baby Boomers have. There may well be a time in the next few decades when the Millennials either carry the full load or will have to create institutions that pass on the value of volunteeerism to future generations. Either way, there is a burden, but also a great opportunity. If the Millennials continue to embrace volunteerism that includes political activism, they can generate a huge shift in the policies that concern them . . . and there is reason to believe that this shift will be progressive and partisan. Indeed, the nature of "voluntourism" is to give of one's time to remediate failures of national policy. Eco-volunteers and community volunteers are engaged with failed policies at their most visible and local level. And while there is a strong feeling among Millennials that government can be an effective tool for good, there is also a sense that we don't have to wait around for problems to be solved.

As we continue to see, the failure of the Bush Administration to issue a call to service, rather than a call to shopping, was rejected by a generation of people who are not waiting for the invitation to get involved.