Posted on 01/24/2008 2:22:32 PM PST by fgoodwin
Americans worked a median of 52 hours last year without pay.
They’re called volunteers.
Many organizations can’t survive without unpaid labor, and many people are glad to provide it.
Sadly, though, data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that both the number of volunteers and the volunteer rate — the percentage of the population that volunteers — declined in 2007 from 2006.
Volunteering also had fallen in 2006 from 2005.
About 60.8 million Americans, age 16 and up, volunteered in 2007, compared with a high of 65.3 million in 2005.
The proportion of that population that did unpaid work for an organization last year was 26.2 percent, compared with 28.8 percent in 2005 (a percentage that had held steady for several years).
The numbers and the trend are disturbing. How can it be that three-fourths of the population is so disconnected or cares so little about any project or cause that they don’t spare a few hours in a year to help out?
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
Another election year article (Bush’s fault).
Could it be because the government “volunteers” so much of our money that we have to continue working at our paying jobs to cover it?
What free time. Either you got one 16 hour a day job or you have two eight hour jobs.
The decline in community service is no doubt due to the fact that women and minorities are being incarcerated rather than permitted to serve their sentences through community service. We must cease penalizing these productive citizens for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. Perhaps these individuals could be used in Public works projects, factories and as household workers. /sarc
Some people have free time? I’ve heard of such people.
Could be.
But I still volunteer with my son’s Boy Scout Troop. And until recently, I was a volunteer with the State Guard, the community emergency response team, and as a Sunday School teacher.
I’ve done volunteer tax work, volunteer tutoring in inner-city schools, and I’ve judged local science fairs.
I don’t say all that to make myself look good, I just think people can get involved in things if they find something that interests them.
And I guess I’m saying people SHOULD get involved in things. The more people that get involved in my son’s Scout Troop (for example), the easier it becomes for everyone.
The PTA has the same issue as does the party precinct. There are never enough people volunteering and those who do get overworked and burned-out as a result.
I did spend last Friday with grandson and his pig at a stock show. ;)
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