Youth volunteers boost chances in education, reveals study
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Young volunteers are more likely to spend longer in education and gain higher earnings in later life, according to a study published by charity V.
Measuring the Impossible: Making a Start, by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) for volunteering charity V, said there is still no evidence to suggest youth volunteers carry on volunteering in later life and become active citizens in their communities.
But the study found that youth volunteering is associated with positive outcomes particularly when it comes to obtaining higher education qualifications, while young people who do not undertake voluntary work between the ages of 11 and 25 may be harming their "participation in the social and economic spheres of life, both now and later in life".
NFER principal research officer David Kerr called for further research into the impact of volunteering among young people on their attitudes to the big society ideals such as community activities in later life.
"A strong evidence base is vital in ensuring that the government's pro-volunteering policy is securely grounded and heading in the right direction," he said.
V has released the report to coincide with the launch of its Volunteering Knowledge Network, which aims to promote further research in the volunteering sector.
It aims to look at the impact of volunteering on job prospects and ways the private sector and volunteering specialists can work together on research projects.
V chief executive Terry Ryall said she hopes the network will help produce further evidence of the value of volunteering in terms of self-esteem, personal development and employability.
