Frivilligarbete i Sverige. En studie av bestämningsfaktorer och omfattning

The paper looks into volunteering in Sweden, with the aim to explain why people volunteer and who volunteers. Theories of why individuals volunteer are explored from two perspectives; volunteering as a good demanded by the individual and volunteering as the supply, by individuals, of unpaid labour. The question of who volunteers in Sweden is addressed by analysing the determinants of volunteer labour. Volunteering is treated both as a question of if the person volunteers, and how much. The data material the analyses are based on is a cross-sectional survey from 2005 carried out by Ersta Sköndal Högskola. Determinants are analysed for the whole sample and separately for men and women, different age- and education categories using a binary logistic model. Results show that socioeconomic variables like higher education, union-membership, parenthood and having parents who volunteered gives a higher probability for engaging in volunteer work. Women’s, but not men’s, volunteering is determined by family status. Determinants change with age; young respondents are influenced by their parents volunteering habits and the size of town of residence. Individuals aged 30-59 have determinants associated to productivity characteristics and family status. For respondents aged 60-75 there is a gender pattern where women do more informal volunteer work (helping neighbours, friends and relatives) while men’s volunteering to a higher degree is carried out in organisations