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1. National Programme for Youth Volunteering

2. Funding

3. Characteristics of youth volunteering

4. Support to young volunteers

5. Target groups

National Programme for Youth Volunteering

The national programme for youth volunteering in the Netherlands is called Social Service Time (Maatschappelijke Diensttijd MDT). Through this programme, central government stimulates young people to use their talents in providing an amount of their time to do volunteer work and to strengthen civil society. The three main goals are for young people to contribute to society, meet people outside of their regular social circle and to let them develop their talents.

The approach with which this program is rolled out centres continued learning and youth participation. The implementation therefore consists of three phases.

1. The first phase is characterised by research. From 2017 to 2020, pilot projects (proeftuinen) were run to explore potential forms the programme could take on. Young people have been involved in both creating these projects as deciding on the course in further phases.

2. The second phase is marked with the official start of Social Service Time (MDT) in March 2020. The aim of this phase is to grow a nationwide network that allows young people anywhere in the Netherlands to participate in a project that fits their motivation. The report about the progress in 2023 mentions that this goal has been achieved. 

3. The focus of the third phase is sustaining the program. This implies both budget and forming an alliance with all actors involved. There is no specific end date for this programme. 

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is responsible for the programme. Other actors involved are the National Youth Council (Nationale Jeugdraad, NJR), the Association of Dutch Voluntary Organizations (Vereniging Nederlandse Organisaties Vrijwilligerswerk, NOV) and The Netherlands Organization  for Health Research and Development (ZonMW). Finally, organizations who received subsidy to facilitate a MDT trajectory are involved.

The main fields of activity of Social Service Time (MDT) are

• Nature & Animals
• Sustainability
• Engineering & ICT
• Politics & Governance
• Education
• Media & Culture
• Sports
• Safety
• Health & Wellbeing

In addition, the focus area’s identified in 2023 are mental health, sports, equal opportunities, integration, and loneliness. 

In 2023, 66.000 young people participated in Social Service Time (MDT). In total, the programme has had 200.000 participants and is expected to have 200.000 more. In addition, youth participation is embedded in the governance of the programme. Facilitated by the National Youth Council (Nationale Jeugdraad, NJR), young people are engaged in the development, implementation and continuous evaluation of the MDT. 

Funding

The budget for Social Service Time (Maatschappelijke Diensttijd, MDT) from the Central Government is expected to be cut significantly from 2025 on forward.The budget was 100 million per year, got enlarged to 200 million per year and has now been cut to 130 million per year. Both the Parliament and the Senate have voted positively on the budget for the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in April 2025.  

Characteristics of youth volunteering

On avarage, 45% of people between 15 and 25 years old engage in voluntary work in the Netherlands in the last years (Statistics Netherlands). In 2021, there was a decrease which can probably be explained by the covid-pandemic. With 38% of young people volunteering in 2021, there last years are marked by an increase to 41% in 2022 and 46% in 2023. Also in 2021, most young people, at almost 15%, is active in a sports club. More than 7% are active in school and almost 6% in youth work. The percentage of young people who do voluntary work in politics and in their own neighborhood is low at 0.8% and 1.5% respectively (Statistics Netherlands).The percantage of young people who intend to still volunteering next year is lower than among other age groups, namely 46% (Statistics Netherlands).

Research done by Motivaction (April 2023) by order of NOV shows that for older generations values such as solidarity, helping others and contributing to society are an important impulse for volunteering. Younger generations tend to focus more on individualistic values: more recognition and appreciation for the work within the voluntary organization. Also they would like more guidance, feedback on performance, personal development and to learn new skills.

Support to young volunteers

Whether young people receive a volunteer fee depends on the organization they work for. Also, under certain conditions they are exempted from paying income tax. Information about working as  a volunteer and taxes can be found on the website of the Tax and customs administration  (Belastingdienst).

For Social Service Time (Maatschappelijke Diensttijd MDT) specifically, young people who participate in longer projects receive extensive supervision and coaching. 

There are no obligatory insurance measurements for organizations who host young volunteers. 

Target groups

At national level Dutch government has made efforts to promote the opportunities and benefits of volunteering among all young people. There are no measures taken to enhance the participation of specific groups of young people in voluntary activities.