Politica
European third sector workforce hits 20 million
According to a new report on the EU’s social economy the third sector would account for 6% of the continent’s entire workforce.
di Staff
Growth at all levels. This is the way the EU report on the social economy summaries the state of the European third sector. Numbers of workers on the rise, an astounding 2 million non profit enterprises and an estimated 302 billion euros contributed to the world economy. Surprisingly, volunteering is on the rise as well: 140 million European citizens volunteer and according to a Eurobarometer survey 3 out of every 10 European citizens carry out volunteering activities.
Spotlight on Italy
According to the national statistical office, Istat, figures between1995 and 2003 volunteering has increased by 152%. Sicily and Molise are in pole position with a 1067.3% and 591% increase respectively. The Istat figures on social economy in 2008 also highlight that the tunovers of third sector organizations rose from 1.198 billion euros in 2001 to 1.630 billion euros in 2003. There are 1.336 million Italian professionals working in the sector out of Europe’s total 20 million.
Non profit organizations offering help to unhealthy people, differently able and underprivileged people had 6.8 million users in 2003. Cooperatives, in these last ten years, have doubled their revenues and staff. It is estimated that there are 83 thousand cooperatives with 12 million members and 1.2 million employees. Their annual turnover totals about 120-130 billion euros and their catchment areas and the number of services provided are growing as well. Social cooperatives that take care of elderly and ill people helped over 2 million people in 2003 and 3 million people in 2005.
Looking forwards
What is the future of the non profit sector? According to a survey by Eurobarmeter, that asked middle-aged citizens: “What are you going to do once you retire?”, 66% answered: “I will collect my pension”, but 73% also said: “I think I will become a volunteer”.
What actions will politicians take in favour of this growing sector? According to the Report on social economy, the European non profit sector expects accurate legislation and the setting up of a statistical register.
