| Practice area: | Education and Labour Markets | Labour markets |
|---|---|
| Client: | Department for Culture, Media and Sport |
| Published: | 11 July, 2025 |
| Keywords: | 2025 Labour Market Economics Volunteering |
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned London Economics, working with The Social Agency and New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) to monetise the economic and social value of volunteering in England. The work implements a methodology developed by London Economics for DCMS by combining desk research and stakeholder workshops with academics, local government officials, funders, and voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations.
The report examines 5 strands of the value of volunteering:
- The replacement cost of volunteering, which values the benefits of volunteering by valuing the cost of replacing volunteers with paid staff.
- The wellbeing benefits to volunteers, which values the benefits of life satisfaction improvements for volunteers as a result of volunteering.
- The effect of volunteering on employment outcomes, which examines the effect of volunteering on the hourly pay, hours worked and the probability of paid employment of volunteers.
- The effect of volunteering on healthcare costs, which examines the effect of volunteering on the number of healthcare appointments (GP, outpatient and inpatient) of volunteers.
- The effect of volunteering on social outcomes, which examines the effect of volunteering on a range of social outcomes of volunteers, such as isolation, loneliness, and belonging to a neighbourhood.
The total economic impact of formal volunteering activity in England in 2021/22, based on the replacement cost and wellbeing benefits of volunteering, was estimated at £24.69 billion. This represents an average economic impact of £2,012 per volunteer.
The full report is available here.