Kindness takes many measurable forms: helping a neighbor, volunteering through an organization, taking action for a community, or giving to charity. Recent estimates indicate that about 2.1 billion people volunteered monthly worldwide in the 2022–2025 average, while surveys in the United States and England capture both formal and informal acts of support.
Contents
- Kindness through volunteering worldwide
- Direct and organization-based help
- Neighborly kindness in the United States
- Formal U.S. volunteering and service time
- Volunteering in England
- Who volunteers in England
- Charitable giving in England
Kindness through volunteering worldwide
The United Nations Volunteers report estimates that 2.1 billion people—34.5% of the global working-age population—volunteered monthly in the 2022–2025 average. This is an estimate, and the report measures volunteering rather than every possible expression of kindness. It nevertheless gives a sense of the scale of people regularly contributing time to others and to their communities. (2026 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report)
The same report estimates a 30.9% global volunteer rate for the 2018–2021 average and 32.7% for the longer 2018–2025 average. These are different measurement periods, so they should not be treated as a single-year trend. The 2022–2025 estimate is the most recent period represented here.
Regional estimates varied substantially in the 2022–2025 average:
| Region | Estimated overall volunteer rate | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | 58.5% | 2022–2025 average |
| Asia and the Pacific | 31.8% | 2022–2025 average |
| The Americas | 30.3% | 2022–2025 average |
| Europe and Central Asia | 24.2% | 2022–2025 average |
Africa had the highest estimated overall rate among the regions listed, at 58.5% of its working-age population. The rate was 31.8% in Asia and the Pacific, 30.3% in the Americas, and 24.2% in Europe and Central Asia. Regional differences may reflect how people volunteer, how volunteering is measured, and local social and economic conditions; the figures alone do not explain the reasons for the gaps.
Direct and organization-based help
Volunteering does not always happen through a nonprofit, club, or other formal organization. The United Nations Volunteers report separates direct volunteering from organization-based volunteering, helping show how kindness can happen in everyday relationships as well as established institutions.
Globally, direct volunteering was estimated at 25.0% of the working-age population in the 2022–2025 average, compared with 11.7% for organization-based volunteering. These categories describe different channels of volunteering and should not be added together without considering possible overlap.
The regional pattern also differed:
- In Africa, direct volunteering was estimated at 38.3% and organization-based volunteering at 16.9%.
- In the Americas, direct volunteering was estimated at 12.1% and organization-based volunteering at 13.2%.
- In the Arab States, direct volunteering was estimated at 15.3% and organization-based volunteering at 7.4%.
- In Asia and the Pacific, direct volunteering was estimated at 26.4% and organization-based volunteering at 9.9%.
- In Europe and Central Asia, direct volunteering was estimated at 18.3% and organization-based volunteering at 12.6%.
The comparison suggests that direct help was more common than organization-based help in the global estimate and in most listed regions. In the Americas, however, the organization-based estimate was slightly higher than the direct-volunteering estimate. These figures describe estimated participation rates, not the number of hours contributed or the value of the work.
Neighborly kindness in the United States
U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps data show how much kindness takes place informally, outside an organization. Between September 2022 and September 2023, an estimated 137.5 million Americans aged 16 and over—54.2% of that population—informally helped their neighbors. The comparable 2019 informal helping rate was 51.7%, and the national informal helping rate increased by 3.4 percentage points between 2021 and 2023. (New U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps Research Tracks Virtual Volunteering for First Time)
Frequency matters as well as participation. About 1 in 10 Americans informally helped neighbors a few times a week or more during the September 2022–September 2023 period. More than 22% of Americans, or 54.5 million people, took action with neighbors to do something positive for their community.
Conversation is another measurable part of neighborhood connection. About 70% of Americans reported talking or spending time with neighbors in each of the three most recent survey waves from 2019 through 2023. In 2023, 178.4 million Americans talked with neighbors, and 57% of them did so at least monthly. Eight percent of Americans who talked with neighbors did so basically every day. About 72.8 million Americans also discussed social issues with neighbors between September 2022 and September 2023.
Together, these measures distinguish several levels of connection: spending time or talking, discussing shared concerns, taking positive community action, and directly helping neighbors. They are not interchangeable measures, but each captures a different route through which kindness can appear in ordinary life.
Formal U.S. volunteering and service time
Formal volunteering provides a different view of service. More than 75.7 million U.S. residents aged 16 and over, or 28.3%, formally volunteered through an organization between September 2022 and September 2023. The formal volunteering rate was 23.2% in 2021, while the 2023 rate remained 1.7 percentage points below the pre-pandemic level. (New U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps Research Tracks Virtual Volunteering for First Time)
Participation rates do not show how much time each volunteer gives. Average annual hours per formal volunteer fell from 96.5 hours in 2017 to 70 hours in 2023. The median annual service level fell from 40 hours in 2017 to 24 hours in 2023, meaning the amount of service completed by the middle volunteer was lower in the later measurement.
Online service formed a notable part of the 2022–2023 picture. Eighteen percent of U.S. formal volunteers served completely or partially online, representing more than 13.4 million people. Virtual and hybrid volunteers reported an average of 95 service hours in 2023, compared with 64 hours for volunteers serving only in person. These averages describe reported service among the respective groups; they do not establish why the groups differed.
Recovery also varied geographically. Fourteen states and five of the 12 largest U.S. metropolitan areas matched or exceeded their 2019 formal volunteering rates in 2023. In contrast, formal volunteering rates remained more than 5 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels in 11 states and the District of Columbia metropolitan area.
Volunteering in England
The Community Life Survey 2023/24 measures formal volunteering, informal volunteering, civic engagement, and charitable giving among adults in England. In 2023/24, 16% of adults—approximately 7.5 million people—formally volunteered at least monthly. A broader annual measure found that 28%, or approximately 12.9 million adults, formally volunteered at least once in the previous year. (Community Life Survey 2023/24: Volunteering and charitable giving)
The monthly formal volunteering rate was 27% when push-to-web data collection began in 2013/14. Because the collection context and dates differ, that historical figure should be read as a reported comparison point rather than proof of a simple uninterrupted decline.
Informal volunteering was more common than formal volunteering in the 2023/24 results. Twenty-four percent of adults, approximately 11.2 million people, informally volunteered at least monthly, while 44%, approximately 20.5 million, did so at least once in the previous year. The monthly informal rate reached 33% in 2020/21.
Looking across both channels, 33% of adults—approximately 15.1 million people—did either formal or informal volunteering at least monthly in 2023/24. Fifty-four percent, approximately 24.8 million people, did either at least once in the previous year. A still broader measure found that 66%, or approximately 30.6 million adults, participated in any volunteering or civic engagement activity during the previous year.
Who volunteers in England
The England data show that participation differs by age and by other demographic measures. Monthly formal volunteering was 11% among adults aged 25–34 and 23% among those aged 65–74 in 2023/24. The rate was 21% among adults aged 75 and over. These results describe survey groups and do not mean that age alone determines whether someone volunteers.
For monthly informal volunteering, the rate was 28% among adults aged 16–24 and 29% among those aged 65–74. Disabled adults had a rate of 28%, compared with 23% among non-disabled adults. The rate was 27% among female adults and 22% among male adults.
The survey also reported differences by gender identity and religious group. Adults whose gender identity differed from their sex registered at birth had a 32% monthly informal volunteering rate, compared with 24% for those whose identity matched. Monthly informal volunteering was 36% among Jewish adults and 31% among adults in the survey’s “any other” religious group. Monthly formal volunteering was 28% among Jewish adults and 25% among adults in the “any other” religious group.
These comparisons are descriptive. They show reported rates for the groups named in the survey and should not be used to infer causes or make assumptions about individuals.
Charitable giving in England
Money is another way people express support. In England, 67% of adults—approximately 30.6 million people—gave money to charitable causes in the previous four weeks in 2023/24. The rate was 80% among adults aged 65–74 and also 80% among those aged 75 and over. Female adults had a four-week giving rate of 73%, compared with 62% among male adults. (Community Life Survey 2023/24: Volunteering and charitable giving)
Reported giving also varied across religious, ethnic, occupational, and geographic groups. The four-week rate was 82% among Jewish adults, 74% among Christian adults, and 59% among Hindu adults. It was 76% among Irish adults, 74% among Pakistani adults, 51% among Chinese adults, and 55% among Black Caribbean adults. Among adults in higher managerial, administrative, and professional occupations, the rate was 75%.
Deprivation and settlement type were associated with different reported rates in the survey. The four-week giving rate was 57% in England’s most deprived decile, compared with 74% in each of the three least deprived deciles. It was 73% in rural areas and 66% in urban areas.
The most commonly reported giving methods were buying goods from a charity shop or catalogue at 28%, direct debit or standing order at 23%, raffle tickets at 21%, collection tins at 19%, and online donations at 17%. Among recent donors, 21% gave more than £50, 11% gave less than £5, and the average amount was £29 when donations of £300 or more were excluded. These are survey estimates for 2023/24, not a measure of total charitable income.