Is volunteering only for the rich and privileged?

This is a question being raised more frequently now. In the last few weeks, we published two articles that pointed towards the trend of more affluent class people volunteering than their poorer compatriots. As Tom Geoghegan says in his article, “the prospect of unwaged employment might not be so appealing if you're a cash-strapped school leaver who wants to help mum put food on the table.”

Walid-Al-Saqqaf shares this opinion in a review of volunteerism in Yemen. “With an unemployment rate of nearly 40 percent and biting poverty in more than half the population, one can understand that volunteerism is far down the priority list of millions of Yemenis,” he writes.

Young people from deprived communities do not lack the interest but the financial means to volunteer. They need incentives like sponsorships for their volunteer work or gap years to be able to contribute to the community. In fact, when they do contribute to their immediate community out of free will, it’s often not recognized as volunteer work.

Recently, some governments are taking steps to encourage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to volunteer, in the hope it would provide a way into further education and employment. In UK, a 100m-pound fund is being promised to pay for the living expenses of volunteers coming from deprived communities. If this becomes a practice, would we be able to gather the enormous resources required to offer people from communities at disadvantage the opportunity to volunteer? What do you think? We’d like to know your opinion. Read the related two articles below and share your thoughts using the comments feature at the end of the articles.

Volunteer in Yemen? ‘Please be serious!’  by Walid Al-Saqqaf

Is volunteering just for the privileged few? by Tom Geoghegan

Please also vote in our opinion poll below.