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For the year ending in September 2012, the volunteer rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 26.5 percent. The decline followed an increase of one-half of a percentage point in 2011.
Characteristics | Percent of population |
---|---|
Total | 26.5 |
Employment status | |
Employed (part time) | 33.4 |
Employed (full time) | 28.1 |
Unemployed | 23.8 |
Not in labor force | 22.4 |
Educational attainment | |
Less than a high school diploma | 8.8 |
High school graduates, no college | 17.3 |
Some college or associate degree | 28.7 |
Bachelor's degree and higher | 42.2 |
Presence of own children under 18 years | |
Men without own children under 18 | 20.7 |
Women without own children under age 18 | 26.9 |
Men with own children under 18 | 30.5 |
Women with own children under age 18 | 35.9 |
Age | |
16 to 19 years | 27.4 |
20 to 24 years | 18.9 |
25 to 34 years | 23.2 |
35 to 44 years | 31.6 |
45 to 54 years | 29.3 |
55 to 64 years | 27.6 |
65 years and over | 24.4 |
Race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity | |
White | 27.8 |
Black or African American | 21.1 |
Asian | 19.6 |
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity | 15.2 |
Among employed persons, 29.1 percent volunteered during the year ending in September 2012. By comparison, 23.8 percent of unemployed persons and 22.4 percent of those not in the labor force volunteered. Among the employed, part-time workers were more likely than full-time workers to have participated in volunteer activities—33.4 percent compared with 28.1 percent.
By age, 35- to 44-year-olds were most likely to volunteer (31.6 percent). Volunteer rates were lowest among 20- to 24-year-olds (18.9 percent). For persons 45 years and over, the volunteer rate tapered off as age increased. Teens (16- to 19-year-olds) had a volunteer rate of 27.4 percent.
The volunteer rate of parents with children under age 18 (33.5 percent) remained higher than the rate for persons without children (23.8 percent). Women with children under age 18 volunteered at a higher rate (35.9 percent) than men with children under age 18 (30.5 percent).
Among the major race and ethnicity groups, whites continued to volunteer at a higher rate (27.8 percent) than did blacks (21.1 percent), Asians (19.6 percent), and Hispanics (15.2 percent). Of these groups, the volunteer rate for whites fell 0.4 percentage point in 2012, driven by a decline in the volunteer rate of white women. Among blacks, the rate edged up 0.8 percentage point.
These data were collected through a supplement to the September 2012 Current Population Survey. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. For a variety of information on volunteering, see "Volunteering in the United States—2012," (PDF) (HTML) news release, USDL-13-0285.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Volunteering declines in 2012 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130226.htm (visited October 03, 2024).