Volunteer work and Draft ICATUS
ILO Department of Statistics
Sophia Lawrence
ICATUS Revision
New York, (11-31 June 2012)
ILO Department of Statistics
Volunteer work defined
“Unpaid non-compulsory work; that is, time individuals give
without pay to activities performed either through an
organization or directly for others outside their own
household”
–
–
–
–
It is work
It is unpaid
It is not compulsory
It can be done for or through organisations (i.e., market
enterprises (corporations or household), government and nonprofit institutions), or directly for other households
ILO Department of Statistics
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Volunteer work measured
• Current recommendations (Manual & 18th ICLS)
• Its measurement is consistent with ILO’s promotion
of decent work:
– For human dignity, in terms of economic and social
development objectives
ILO Department of Statistics
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Volunteer work and SNA
• Within the SNA production boundary
– All volunteer work through organizations ( e.g. teaching in a school,
organizing a lottery for the Red Cross, cleaning rivers for an environmental
organization)
– Volunteer work directly for households producing goods for own
use (e.g. building homes for homeless, making clothes for children)
• Beyond the SNA production boundary (inside the General
production boundary)
– Volunteer work directly for households producing services mainly
for own final use (e.g. transporting a neighbour to a clinic, keeping company to the
sick, preparing meals for the elderly)
ILO Department of Statistics
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New ILO conceptual framework −
volunteering in Work statistics
ILO Department of Statistics
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Volunteering in concept of Work
• Work comprises all inputs of labour for:
– Production of goods and services for payment, profit or
family gain;
– Unpaid production of goods and services for
consumption by others, ex. as a volunteer or part of a
programme of education and training; (problematic)
– Unpaid production of goods and services for own
consumption or by members of own household (ex.
subsistence production and household cleaning or child
care)
ILO Department of Statistics
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Bringing all Work in line with SNA
SNA 2008
ACTIVITIES
Paid employment
Within
Productive
Activities
Self-employment in market enterprises
Production of goods for own final use
Volunteer work in market or non-market enterprises
Volunteer work in HH to produce goods for own final use
Beyond
Non-productive
activities
ICLS
13th 18th
 
 
≠ 
?

?

Volunteer work in HH to produce services for own final use
?

Unpaid household service work


Self-care, study, training, leisure, culture, …
Begging, stealing (if products are not sold)

?
ILO Department of Statistics
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Participation in different forms of work
Volunteers
Producers of
goods mainly
for own final
use
Employed
Unpaid household service
workers
ILO Department of Statistics
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Problems to capture volunteers in TUS
• Because volunteering is not a regular or long-lasting
activity, it tends to be underestimated in TUS
• When identified, TU classifications generally do not
obtain information about:
– The activities carried out when volunteering is done
through organisations
• e.g. Red Cross, schools, government
ILO Department of Statistics
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Solutions to improve TUS measurement
• Demographic questionnaire
– Include stylised questions on volunteering:
• Did you also do any type of unpaid work as a volunteer for an
organization or another household… in the reference period ?
• Along with background information:
– For how long…
– What type of (volunteer) activities…?
• Time Diary
– Instructions should give examples of types of
volunteering activity (tends to be on/off, seasonal)
– Even over short periods of time
ILO Department of Statistics
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TUS context variables
• Including new variables in the Questionnaire, in
addition to prompting, improves results:
• Context variable "for whom" the activity is carried
out:
• Previous argument against: respondents not sure what to
report
• Latest arguments for (Canada): ex. person reports cooking,
shopping, driving, etc. not for own household but for
neighbour or relative in another household
– Without context information, activity will appear as “Own
production work”
ILO Department of Statistics
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Illustration: Measurement in Time Use Surveys
T Demographic Qt: Household Roster & Demographic Characteristics
n+ Part I: Participation in all labour force activities
-Labour force activities (paid & self-employment in
market enterprises)
(Unemployment job search activities, duration)
W Part II: Participation in other forms of Work
A
-Own production of goods – what, whom, length
P
-Volunteer work – what, whom, length ?
-Unpaid trainee work – what, whom, length ?
-Unpaid hhld service work – what, whom, length ?
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Volunteering in non-TUS (LFS)
• Measure volunteer work as part of statistics on labour input,
based on 1 hour criterion and working time hour bands
• In the same programme as producers of goods mainly for
own final use (and unpaid household services)
• Use modules to the labour force or other household
surveys, with an employment component
• Cover the working age population
– Whether persons are working, seeking work or outside the labour
force
ILO Department of Statistics
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Volunteering and ICATUS
• Volunteer activity should be measured:
• Both within and beyond the SNA production boundary
AND
• That occurs in NPIs, for all Corporations, for Government
• Measure these workers (and their characteristics) as
part of labour input
• Classify volunteer activities (43) to as many categories
(at least) as community organized services (42)
– (41) Separate out work resulting in goods vs. services (as
for Paid Work activities) therein lies SNA distinction
ILO Department of Statistics
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