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Democracy and Civic Engagement International Service Working Paper

The Estimated Economic Value of a US Volunteer Abroad

By CSD • July 1, 2007October 27, 2021

The labor performed by domestic volunteers is commonly assigned an economic value to determine the product volunteers contribute to the national economy (Independent Sector, 2007). This brief summarizes several approaches to estimating the economic value of US volunteers abroad, and compares these estimates to calculations using the 2005 Current Population Survey volunteer supplement (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2006) and the Independent Sector’s 2005 estimation of the hourly “wage” of a volunteer at $18.04. By these standards, in 2005 the value of US volunteer time abroad was $2.92 billion.

Project: Advancing Research & Policy on International Volunteer Service

Citation

Lough, B. J., McBride, A. M., & Sherraden, M. S. (2007). The estimated economic value of a US volunteer abroad (CSD Working Paper No. 07-29). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.

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2007Advancing Research & Policy on International Volunteer ServiceAmanda Moore McBrideBenjamin LoughMargaret Sherradenvolunteerism

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