According to the 2007 EESC Report, Dutch FTE volunteers amount to 390,100 units, representing 5.1% of the total economically active population (aged between 14 and 65 years old; 1995 data from the Johns Hopkins Comparative Non Profit Sector Project) and 31% of the active population (data from EVS/WWS European Values Survey, 1999-2001).
The volunteer rate has then increased from 42% in 2006 to 45% in 2008. Also the number of hours volunteered increased, from 13.3 hours per month in 2006 to 18.4 hours in 2008.
Moreover, volunteers are increasingly specialized workers. In 2002, 26.5% performed only one type of activity; this proportion increased steadily to 48.9% in 2008 (source: www.giving.nl by the Department of Philanthropic Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam).
According to the Report on civic engagements by Penninx (MOVISIE), K., with the collaboration of M. the Klerk (SCP), A. de Boer (SCP) and P. Dekker (SCP), entitled The value of silver IN FIGURES. Civic Engagement of senior citizens – a fact sheet (2009), 17.3% of 15-34 years old people volunteers (equal to 715,000 persons), and the hours volunteered in a week amounted to 3.7 per volunteer, for a total of 138,000,000 hours of voluntary work by the age group 15-34 in one year (2005 data).
The corresponding figures for the next age group are the following: 25.0% of the 35-54 years old people is engaged in volunteering; 3.6 hours a week are the average amount of volunteering per person in this age group; 231,000,000 are the total hours of voluntary work in one year by people in the 35-54 years old range (2005 data).
As far as the 55-74 years old people, 32.5% is engaged in volunteer activities; 6.0 are the average hours per week spent by a volunteer in volunteering; 324,000,000 are the total hours of voluntary worked made by this age group in one year (2005 data).
Therefore, a total of 2,987,000 people in the 15-74 years old range volunteer, for a total of 693,000,000 hours per year.
In the same Report by Penninx, the Klerk, de Boer and Dekker (2009) are contained previsions for 2015: a decrease in the number of the 15-34 years old age group has been foreseen (number of volunteers will loose 16,000 units, down to 699,000); therefore, the total of the hours of voluntary work per year will drop to 134,000,000, even because this age group is becoming smaller. The age group 35-54 will undergo a 70,000 unit decrease by 2015, and its engagement in volunteering activities will decrease to 218,000,000 hours per year.
The only age group that will be more engaged is the elderly group (see the paragraph Civic engagements of senior citizens).
Membership of civil society organizations by the youngsters
16% and 32% of the 18-34 and 35-54 age group respectively are members of environmental organizations; this percentage become 15% and 20% respectively when it comes to membership to organizations concerning the third world, human rights, peace; 21% and 26% are instead the 18-34 and the 35-54 years olds that are social involved in residents’ associations (Penninx, the Klerk, de Boer and Dekker, 2009; 2006 data).
Seniors’ membership of civil society organizations
37 of the people over 70 are member of organizations for the environment, 19% of organizations concerning the third world, human rights and peace, and the 27% of residents’ association. Figures for the age group 55-69 are instead the following: 24% are members of environmental organizations, 21% of human rights, peace, third world organizations and 32% of residents’ associations (Penninx, K., M. the Klerk, A. de Boer and P. Dekker, 2009).
Civic engagements of senior citizens
According to the Report by Penninx, the Klerk, de Boer and Dekker (2009), the term civic engagements refers to activities that share the characteristics of requiring some investment of time, of not being carried out for remuneration (or, at best, expenses), and of benefiting specific social goals or groups. The four kinds of activities considered in the paper are: voluntary work, family care, care for grandchildren and political participation.
Senior citizens do the largest proportion of the total amount of voluntary work carried out in the Netherlands, even if the average amount of hours volunteered by the over 65 years of age is decreasing.
The cited Paper reports that the hours of voluntary work offered by the elderly (55-74 years of age) in Dutch society amounted to 1,038 in 2005, and it is forecast that they will increase to 1,265 in 2015. However, this expected increase is largely due to the fact that the number of senior citizens is growing.
Of the 58.7 hours / per week of leisure time that over 65 have at their disposal, 3.1 hours are used destined to family care or voluntary work (2000 data).
Yet, the average time spent on voluntary work (family care excluded) by people of 65 and over decreased from 2.2 to 1.8 hours a week between 2000 and 2005.
Instead, of the 50.6 hours of leisure time that people between 55 and 64 years of age have, 2.7 hours per week are spent in voluntary work and family care (2000 data).
Engagement in volunteering is increasingly getting competition of continued paid employment (participation in paid work of the 55-64 aged group increased from 25 to 40% between 1992 and 2005), care for grandchildren or family care, use of the media (mainly watching television), social contacts and solitary pastimes. As far as the first element is concerned, the Netherlands Institute for Social Research – SCP has calculated that doing paid work may slightly impede the 50-69 age group from participation in both volunteering and family care.
In spite of this, the elderly are still wholesalers of voluntary work. Senior citizens with a higher level of education, a higher income, a higher professional status, better health and who go to church regularly volunteer more often than seniors who do not show these characteristics.
Moreover, elder people who were already volunteering in an earlier phase of their life volunteer more often than senior citizens who do not experience this until after their retirement. Nevertheless, one in five persons of this latter group starts volunteering after retirement.
For elderly citizens with health problems, low incomes or limited networks, participation in volunteering is less self-evident.
In the countryside – in particular in larger residential centers rather than in smaller villages – conditions for civic engagement are better, with the elderly participating very actively in the town society (Penninx, K., M. the Klerk, A. de Boer and P. Dekker, 2009).
The main areas of voluntary work for the age group 55-69 are: help to neighbours, old-age pensioners or the disabled (24%), sports club (15%), religious or ideological organizations (13%), hobby club (10%). 3% is active in politics: the highest percentage among all the age groups.
Figures for those of 70 years and over are lower in most areas. They are engaged particularly in helping neighbours, old-age pensioners or disabled people (15%), religious or ideological organizations (12%), hobby club (6%). Very many senior citizens are active as volunteers in care-and nursing institutions, for example. In 2002, a total of 100,000 volunteers were active in these, and this large number mainly consisted of senior citizens (Penninx, K., M. the Klerk, A. de Boer and P. Dekker, 2009).
Senior citizens’ associations
The Paper by Penninx, K., M. the Klerk, A. de Boer and P. Dekker (2009) reports that the goal of senior citizens’ associations is to look after the interests of all people of 50 and over in the Netherlands. The senior citizens’ association with most members (310,000) is the Dutch Association of Catholic Organizations for the Elderly, followed by the General Dutch Association for the Elderly, with 190,000 members, the Protestant-Christian senior citizens’ association (107,000 members) and the Dutch Association of Pensioners’ Organizations (88,000 members).
Senior citizens’ initiatives
More highly educated and younger senior citizens are active inside citizens’ initiatives. These are new forms of voluntary self-organization by citizens, aimed at improving their own living situation and/or society. As such, they are not established volunteer organizations, but mostly small-scale, temporary and non-institutionalized initiative, action or project groups. In general, they are organized around a pioneer or’ initiator’ (Penninx, K., M. the Klerk, A. de Boer and P. Dekker, 2009).
