The Supply of Volunteer Work: The Case of Canada

Abstract

This paper examines how the benefits and costs of doing volunteer work, as they are represented by individual characteristics such as age, education, marital status and occupation, explain the choice to engage or not in volunteer work. The predictions of the analytical framework are confronted with and supported by empirical results obtained by using data from a 1980 national survey of volunteer work. The results indicate that individuals whose family or career are likely to benefit from volunteer work do more of it than others.