2.4 Youth volunteering at national level
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National Programme for Youth Volunteering
There is no youth volunteering programme at the national level.
Funding
Not applicable as Denmark has no national programme for youth volunteering
Characteristics of youth volunteering
Two recent national surveys characterise young volunteers, namely the Volunteering Survey 2020 and the Voluntary Survey 2019-2021. These surveys are about voluntary social work.
The Volunteering Survey is a survey conducted on the entire Danish population, but some of the questions are listed by age group, for instance:
The survey shows that in the 16-25 age group most women volunteer (33%) whereas 29% young men in the age group volunteer. This is opposite the of all other the age groups where more men than women volunteer.
The number of young volunteers has increased since 2012.
The 15-29 age group have spent an average of 15 hours on voluntary work in the last month.
33% of the 16-29 age group has never volunteered. The number is the same as the population average. However, 61% of the 16-25 age group indicate that they would volunteer if somebody asked them. The number is higher than the rest of the population. Lastly, 46% of the 16-29 age group agree that voluntary work will benefit job seeking in the labour market. This number is higher than the rest of the population.
The Voluntary Survey also has some questions that involve age.
The survey investigates volunteers in cities and in the countryside and has generalised the characteristics of the archetypical volunteer in a city thus:
The volunteer is typically 16-29 years old, has no children, spends an average of 14 hours on social voluntary work, volunteers to a higher extent in social work than in associations, is to a higher extent episodic voluntary (plug-in/ad hoc volunteering) and to a lesser extent member of an association.
The younger population constitute the largest share of volunteers in cities and are also active in the countryside.
The Voluntary Survey 2016-2018 shows that most young people volunteer in:
- Sports (28%)
- Leisure activities (22%)
- Social work (19%)
Target groups
Not applicable as Denmark has no national programme for youth volunteering.