Does volunteering improve employability? Insights from the British Household Panel Survey and beyond

Paine, Angela, McKay, Steve and Moro, Domenico (2013) Does volunteering improve employability? Insights from the British Household Panel Survey and beyond. Voluntary Sector Review, 4 (3). pp. 355-376. ISSN 2040-8056

Full content URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/204080513X13807974909244

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Item Type:Article
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Abstract

Policy interest in the role of volunteering as a route to employment is enduring, with an assumption that links between volunteering, employability and employment are positive and straightforward. This has largely been supported by existing evidence, although there have been few longitudinal studies testing the theory. Analysing data from the British Household Panel Survey, we used multivariate techniques to explore the effects of volunteering on moves from being out of work into work; and on retention and wage progression for people in employment. We suggest that the relationship is complex: volunteering may have a positive effect on the labour market position of some individuals in some circumstances; for others it may have a negative, or no, effect. We offer some suggestions for the variations we found: the limitations of the dataset and our analysis; a limited concept of employability; and too narrow a view of volunteering and its impact.

Keywords:volunteering, unem
Subjects:L Social studies > L310 Applied Sociology
L Social studies > L410 UK Social Policy
Divisions:College of Social Science > School of Social & Political Sciences
ID Code:14344
Deposited On:18 Jun 2014 09:13

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