Be the first to comment!8% of the population were doing voluntary work in 2010
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The 2010 Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) revealed that 8 per cent of the total population of persons living in private households aged 12 and over, or 28,468 persons, were doing some form of voluntary work. Female volunteers outnumbered males and accounted for 54 per cent of the total. 37 per cent were aged between 25 and 49, while 32 per cent fell within the 50-64 age bracket.
Around 29 per cent of persons doing unpaid work within a voluntary organisation were doing so through religious organisations. This was followed by persons involved in organisations engaged in social work and membership organisations with 27 per cent each. From the surveyed population, persons having both an active and supporting role in voluntary organisations accounted for 35 and 34 per cent respectively.
The largest segment of persons doing voluntary work, 40 per cent, had been doing so for more than 10 years, while 34 per cent had been involved in this type of work for less than 5 years. Nearly half the surveyed population felt that it was their moral duty to carry out voluntary work. These were followed by 18 per cent who said they performed voluntary work primarily to meet new people or for recreation.
A third of respondents said they spent less than 10 hours in voluntary activities per month. One-fourth spent an average of 30 or more hours doing this work. Males tended to spend, on average, 27 hours doing voluntary work, while females tended to spend around 21 hours per month in such activities.
Unemployed and retired persons spent most time doing voluntary work, with averages of 27 and 31 hours in a typical month respectively. Employed persons spent an average of 24 hours, while those whose status was ‘other inactive’ (such as students and housewives) spent the least time doing voluntary work, with 20 hours per month.
Of all those surveyed, 5 per cent were members of a voluntary organisation. From the total memberships, around 55 per cent were paying members.
