Volunteering is measured in several ways: organized service, informal help, monthly participation, annual participation, and total hours. Recent statistics show substantial community involvement in Canada, England, and the United States, while also showing that definitions, age ranges, and survey periods differ.
Contents
- Canada: overall participation and time
- Canada: volunteering by age
- England: formal volunteering and long-term change
- England: informal and combined volunteering
- Who volunteers in England
- United States: participation, hours, and online service
Canada: overall participation and time
Statistics Canada reported that 73% of Canadians aged 15 and older volunteered formally or informally in 2023. The comparable figure reported for 2018 was 79%. These are broad measures that include both service through organizations and informal volunteering, so they should not be read as formal nonprofit participation alone. (The Daily — Volunteering and charitable giving in Canada, 2018 to 2023)
The amount of time contributed also changed across the reported years. Canadians contributed 4.1 billion hours to formal and informal volunteering in 2023, compared with 5.0 billion hours in 2018. People who volunteered contributed an average of 173 hours during 2023. Statistics Canada reported that this 2023 average was 33 hours lower than the 2018 average.
The distribution of time was highly concentrated. In 2023, the most active 10% of Canadian volunteers supplied 61% of all volunteer hours. That figure highlights why participation rates and total hours describe different parts of volunteering: many people may contribute some time, while a smaller group accounts for a large share of the hours.
Formal volunteering was a smaller part of the broad Canadian measure. In 2023, 32% of Canadians aged 15 and older formally volunteered for a charitable or nonprofit organization. Canada had nearly 11 million formal volunteers in that age group, and formal volunteers contributed approximately 1.2 billion hours.
The Canadian source notes that the 2023 survey is not directly comparable with earlier survey cycles in every detail. Its 2018-to-2023 comparisons should therefore be read with the survey and quality caveats stated by Statistics Canada.
Canada: volunteering by age
The 2023 Canadian figures show that overall volunteer participation was highest among people aged 15 to 24 and generally declined across older age groups. However, average hours among those who volunteered were highest among people aged 65 to 74. The figures below use the overall volunteer rate for each age group and the average annual hours contributed by volunteers in that group.
| Age group | Overall volunteer rate | Average annual hours among volunteers |
|---|---|---|
| 15 to 24 | 81.1% | 127 |
| 25 to 34 | 76.2% | 141 |
| 35 to 44 | 75.6% | 128 |
| 45 to 54 | 73.6% | 163 |
| 55 to 64 | 72.3% | 214 |
| 65 to 74 | 67.9% | 283 |
| 75 and older | 55.1% | 204 |
For Canadians aged 15 to 24, the overall volunteer rate was 81.1% in 2023, and volunteers in that age group contributed an average of 127 hours. The rate was 76.2% for ages 25 to 34, with an average of 141 hours, and 75.6% for ages 35 to 44, with an average of 128 hours.
Among ages 45 to 54, the rate was 73.6% and the average was 163 hours. For ages 55 to 64, the rate was 72.3% and the average was 214 hours. The rate was 67.9% for ages 65 to 74, while volunteers in that group averaged 283 hours. Canadians aged 75 and older had a 55.1% volunteer rate, and volunteers in that group averaged 204 hours.
These results illustrate that the age group with the highest participation rate is not the same as the age group with the highest average annual contribution. The table reports the two measures separately rather than treating one as a substitute for the other. (Volunteer rate and average annual volunteer hours, by definition of volunteering and age group)
England: formal volunteering and long-term change
The Community Life Survey 2023/24 reported that 16% of adults aged 16 and over in England formally volunteered at least once a month. This represented approximately 7.5 million adults. On the broader annual measure, 28% formally volunteered at least once during the previous year, or approximately 12.9 million adults.
The latest England results were below the levels reported a decade earlier. In 2013/14, 27% of adults formally volunteered at least monthly, while 45% formally volunteered at least once during the previous year. In 2019/20, the monthly formal-volunteering rate was 23% and the annual rate was 37%. In 2020/21, the monthly rate was 17%.
The England publication covers October 2023 to March 2024. Its trend comparisons are descriptive, and the publication cautions that pandemic-related changes cannot be attributed definitively to COVID-19. The monthly and annual measures also capture different levels of regularity: a person can volunteer at least once in a year without volunteering every month. (Community Life Survey 2023/24: Volunteering and charitable giving)
England: informal and combined volunteering
Informal volunteering was more common than formal volunteering in the 2023/24 England survey. Twenty-four percent of adults informally volunteered at least once a month, representing approximately 11.2 million adults. Forty-four percent informally volunteered at least once during the previous year, representing approximately 20.5 million adults.
The source also reported unusually high informal-volunteering levels in 2020/21: 33% volunteered informally at least monthly and 54% did so at least once during the previous year. These figures are part of the survey trend and should be interpreted alongside the publication’s caution about pandemic-related changes.
When formal and informal volunteering were considered together, 33% of adults in England took part in either type at least once a month in 2023/24. That represented approximately 15.1 million adults. On the annual measure, 54% took part in either formal or informal volunteering at least once during the previous year, or approximately 24.8 million adults. The combined monthly rate was 34% in 2021/22.
The combined measure is useful for describing the breadth of community participation, but it does not mean that every person took part in both forms. It indicates participation in either formal or informal volunteering within the stated period. The England data covers adults aged 16 and over, which differs from the Canadian age threshold and from the U.S. source’s population definition.
Who volunteers in England
England’s 2023/24 figures show meaningful differences by age, setting, deprivation, disability, gender, gender identity, and ethnic group. For formal volunteering, 11% of adults aged 25 to 34 volunteered at least monthly, compared with 23% of adults aged 65 to 74. The monthly formal rate was 21% among rural adults and 15% among urban adults.
The most deprived decile had a monthly formal-volunteering rate of 10%. The rate in the other deprivation deciles ranged from 12% to 22%. Adults whose gender identity differed from their sex registered at birth had a 20% monthly formal-volunteering rate, compared with 16% for adults whose gender identity was the same as their registered sex.
Informal volunteering showed a different pattern in several groups. Monthly informal volunteering was 28% among adults aged 16 to 24, 29% among those aged 65 to 74, and 28% among those aged 75 and over. Disabled adults had a 28% monthly informal-volunteering rate, compared with 23% for non-disabled adults. The rate was 27% for female adults and 22% for male adults.
Adults whose gender identity differed from their sex registered at birth had a 32% monthly informal-volunteering rate, compared with 24% for other adults. Reported monthly informal-volunteering rates were 42% for Gypsy or Irish Traveller adults, 36% for Arab adults, 33% for mixed White and Black African adults, and 31% for Black African and Bangladeshi adults.
The monthly informal rate was 25% for rural adults and 24% for urban adults. At local-authority level, 274 authorities, or 93%, had monthly informal-volunteering rates in line with the national average; 10, or 3%, were above it, and 12, or 4%, were below it. (Community Life Survey 2023/24: Volunteering and charitable giving)
United States: participation, hours, and online service
AmeriCorps reported that more than 28% of Americans formally volunteered through an organization between September 2022 and September 2023. The estimate corresponded to 75.7 million formal volunteers. Half of U.S. formal volunteers served at least 24 hours during that period.
Total service time was estimated at 4.99 billion hours between September 2022 and September 2023. AmeriCorps estimated the economic value of that formal volunteer service at more than $167.2 billion. The value is an estimate attached to the reported service, not a count of money paid to volunteers.
Volunteer activity also included online service. Eighteen percent of U.S. formal volunteers served completely or partially online between September 2022 and September 2023. This measure includes volunteers whose service was partly online as well as those whose service was entirely online.
The U.S. formal-volunteering rate in 2023 was 5 percentage points higher than the historic low recorded in 2021. AmeriCorps also reported that the rate grew 22% over the two years from 2021 to 2023. These are changes in the U.S. formal-volunteering measure and should not be combined directly with Canada’s broad formal-or-informal rate or England’s monthly and annual measures.
Informal help was also widespread in the United States. In 2023, 54% of Americans informally helped neighbors by exchanging favors, a 3 percentage-point increase from previous survey years. The U.S. source reports Americans aged 16 and older, while the Canadian source reports people aged 15 and older and the England source reports adults aged 16 and over. (Volunteering and Civic Life in America: Renewed Engagement in American Civic Life)