The economic benefits of volunteering and social class

John Wilson, Noemi Mantovan, Robert M. Sauer

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Abstract

A theory that the economic benefits of volunteering are contingent on social class (as defined by similarities in the labour market situation) is tested using seven waves of longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Study gathered between 1996 and 2008 and fixed-effects models. Volunteering has a positive effect on earnings, but it is confined to people in professional and managerial occupations. Employees in white and blue collar jobs do not benefit. The study suggests that inconsistent results from previous studies might be due to failure to consider occupational heterogeneity among volunteers.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102368
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalSocial Science Research
Volume85
Early online date10 Oct 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Volunteering
  • Social Class
  • Earnings

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