Volunteering benefits Unemployed
The study found that individuals benefit both from the act of volunteering and from its ‘by products’: respondents acknowledged that it felt good to help others, but also that they benefited from learning new skills, making contacts and keeping busy. The act of volunteering is a self-validating experience that boosted respondents’ confidence and self esteem. This occurred because of the satisfaction individuals felt from helping others and also the realisation that they could make a difference in society or in people’s lives without being in paid employment. A number of respondents identified the positive impact of volunteering for returning to work too.
Dr Yvonne McKenna, CEO of Volunteer Centres Ireland said “This research just proves what we have known for years - volunteering makes us stronger. Volunteering has a proven positive impact on volunteers, those they volunteer with and society in general. Volunteering is not the solution to unemployment – employment is – but a number of unemployed people are benefiting from volunteering during their period of unemployment. Volunteering can help us build stronger neighbourhoods, stronger communities and a stronger Ireland”.
It has been shown elsewhere that long term unemployment can leave a scarring effect, making it more difficult for people to re-enter the workforce. Volunteering can assist in helps avert some of the long-term damage caused by unemployment.
