2004 Volunteering in the United States — 2004-12-16

About 64.5 million people did volunteer work at least once from September 2003 to September 2004, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The proportion of the population who volunteered during the year held steady at 28.8 percent. These data on volunteering were collected through a supplement to the September 2004 Current Population Survey (CPS). Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an organi- zation. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian nonin- stitutional population age 16 and over. For more information about the vol- unteer supplement, see the Technical Note. About 64.5 million persons, or 28.8 percent of the civilian noninstitu- tional population age 16 and over, volunteered through or for organizations at least once from September 2003 to September 2004.