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Does It Pay to Volunteer? The Relationship Between Volunteer Work and Paid Work

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  • Helene Jorgensen

Abstract

It is widely believed that volunteering will improve workers’ job prospects. The logic is that volunteering offers opportunities to expand work-related experience, develop new skills, and build a network of professional contacts. For young people with little history of paid employment it can also signal that a person would be a reliable and motivated employee. In spite of these widespread views about volunteering, surprisingly little research has been done on the effect of volunteering on employment and pay in the United States. This analysis examines volunteering as a pathway to employment during a period of high unemployment, when it is reasonable to expect the beneficial effects of volunteering to be especially pronounced.

Suggested Citation

  • Helene Jorgensen, 2013. "Does It Pay to Volunteer? The Relationship Between Volunteer Work and Paid Work," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2013-10, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    • Handle: RePEc:epo:papers:2013-10
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    File URL: http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/volunteer-2013-06.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kathleen Day & Rose Annue Devlin, 1998. "The Payoff to Work without Pay: Volunteer Work as an Investment in Human Capital," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 31(5), pages 1179-1191, November.
    2. Robert M. Sauer, 2015. "Does It Pay For Women To Volunteer?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56(2), pages 537-564, May.
    3. Menchik, Paul L. & Weisbrod, Burton A., 1987. "Volunteer labor supply," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 159-183, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Catherine Deri Armstrong & Rose Anne Devlin & Forough Seifi, 2023. "Build it and they will come: Volunteer opportunities and volunteering," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 989-1006, August.
    2. Kunal Y. Sevak & LaKami Baker, 2022. "Need‐resource indicators and nonprofit human services organization density," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 129-160, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    volunteering; jobs; employment; unemployment; economy; volunteer; job prospects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J - Labor and Demographic Economics
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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