Report

A pro bono bonus

Think tank: Pro Bono Economics

Author(s): Dr Jansev Jemal

March 15, 2024

This report from UK think tank Pro Bono Economics looks at the impact of volunteering on wages and productivity.

Charities play a vital role in the effective functioning of society, often supporting the most vulnerable groups, including the youngest, the oldest and those with physical and mental health needs. In supporting these groups, charities rely on a silent volunteer army, who provide significant amounts of labour resource. More than 6 million volunteers are estimated to support the 184,000 charities registered with the Charity Commission. However, taking into account both formal and informal volunteering, including organisations not registered with the Charity Commission, the Community Life Survey for England and Wales puts the figure at 25 million for 2021/22.

For the volunteer, the experience of volunteering plays a key role in many ways, including increased confidence, connections and skills development. Evidence shows that while nearly one in four (23%) people engage in volunteering because it gives them the opportunity to apply their existing skills, more than one in seven (15%) do it with the purpose of learning new skills. Other motivating factors include meeting new people (25%) and a small minority see it as an opportunity to help them with their career (7%).

These benefits are supported by recent evidence from Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), which showed that unemployed people who volunteer, or had done so previously, experienced various benefits including gaining experience (44%), developing new skills (38%) and increased confidence (32%).

But there are also significant benefits from volunteering to the wider economy – by boosting productivity in volunteers’ day jobs. Analysis by Pro Bono Economics (PBE) has used evidence of a link between volunteering and wage increase to demonstrate the contribution of volunteering to the UK economy through productivity as reflected in higher wages for volunteers. The analysis shows that there would be a benefit to the UK economy of £4.6 billion per year for new volunteers who work in professional or managerial occupations if those wage increases were realised.

There would be an additional £320 million for the UK Treasury based on increased national contributions alone.