Community sector larger than thought - report
New Zealand's community sector is proportionately larger than in other countries and relies more heavily on volunteers, new research shows.
Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Ruth Dyson today launched the research, which also shows New Zealanders give more than their counterparts in other countries.
Ms Dyson said the report, titled The New Zealand Non-profit Sector in Comparative Perspective, provided the most accurate picture yet on the sector and how it compared with 40 other countries.
The report shows volunteers make up 67 percent of New Zealand's non-profit workforce, compared with an average of 42 percent in other countries.
The report also finds New Zealanders give more than in other countries. The average across all 41 countries in the study was 0.5 percent of GDP. New Zealand's philanthropic giving was 1.1 percent of GDP.
Other findings include:
* non-profit organisations equate to a $9.8 billion industry making up about 5 percent of the economy;
* the sector has a workforce of 200,000 full time paid and volunteer staff;
* the sector is 70 percent proportionately larger than those in the study's other countries;
* only about half of the non-profit organisations deliver services, while the other half are involved in arts, culture and recreation;
The report is part of a large international project co-ordinated by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies. In New Zealand it was overseen by the Committee for the Study of the New Zealand Non-Profit Sector.
Committee chairman Garth Nowland-Foreman said the report showed government support for the sector was more modest than previously thought.
"The non-profit sector has an important contribution to make to society and the economy. We need to make sure it has the recognition and space to do so."
Back to home
Back to top
Print
Email
Share
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
Scoopit
NBR SERVICES
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Sign up for NBR subscriber content or email alerts
Latest
Comments and questions4
there is a crisis coming when the numbers of volunteers diminish as a high percentage are in the older age bracket. We must make volunteering a thing to do and that means some form of tax relief, recognition in CVs, large corporates encouragement of their employees, etc. What about reducing the student loan by credits for volunteer time? It would help younger people get the social picture and maybe give them a lifetime habit.
Certainly we shouldn't put financial (or other) barriers in the way of people volunteering. But its important to remember that the typical volunteer is actual a middle-aged part-time employed parent of school aged children (and they are more likley to be brown than white). Volunteering is no longer just an activity for the retired or stay-at-home mums (if it ever was).
What is going to happen in the future when 1.the cost of being a volunteer is rising: 2. when there is a shrinking pool of people willing to volunteer - many now are over 65
Has thought been given to tax relief for volunteering or a mandatory tradeoff against student fees? we must think outside the square especially with the increasing age of the population which means more community services will be soughtl
I have always, and will always be a volunteer, along with intermittent periods of full and part time study, and both full and part time work. Volunteering has given me opportunities in the paid workforce that I never would have be able to take up, if it weren't for my volunteering experience. I have been professionally trained through volunteering in skills that I wouldn't have acquired in other fields of work, and I use this training in every part of my life. I also have a student loan, and much of this training has contributed to my volunteer work.
There is an onging cost for volunteering - time, commitment, stress, self care when it gets really rough. It costs me close to $45 a month for petrol, and I'm juggling time between work, study, home, family. I have two jobs to pay for my student loan, and continue to volunteer in order to stay 'in the flow of opportunity'.
However, there are the givers and the takers, and when I hear someone say they would never give their time for free I am very saddened.
There does need to be some sort of reimbursement system. The organisation I volunteer for is national, supports many people in crisis, and is an essential service. Running on volunteers keeps us 'honest'; we're in it for the service it provides, not the money. But it's also somewhat shameful that the volunteer sector which hold this country up, is not recognised more for the work that it does.
There are payoffs in everything we do, good and bad, and it's about reaching a balance. I'd like to see reimbursement of some sort, because, as I get older I won't be able to afford to pay for my volunteer work, and the need for growth and training which I gain from the volunteer sector, will trail off. The only thing that will keep me volunteering into my older years is the social contact, but as costs hit many others as they age, this too, will probably diminish.
Post new comment or question
To share this article, click on a service below