January 23, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Volunteer rates in 2006

Over the year ending September 2006, the volunteer rate was lower than in the previous year ending September 2005.

Volunteer rates, September 2005 and September 2006 (percent)
[Chart data—TXT]

The proportion of the population who volunteered was 26.7 percent in the year ended in September 2006. This is 2.1 percentage points lower than the volunteer rate in each of the prior 3 years and 0.7 point lower than in 2002, the first year for which comparable data are available.

About 30.1 percent of women and 23.0 percent of men did volunteer work in the year ended in September 2006, down from 32.4 and 25.0 percent, respectively, during the prior year. As in previous years, women volunteered at a higher rate than men across all age groups, educational levels, and other major characteristics.

These data are from a supplement to the September 2006 Current Population Survey. Find out more in "Volunteering in the United States, 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0019. 

 

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