2002 Volunteering in the United States — 2002-12-18

About 59 million people did volunteer work at some point from September 2001 to September 2002, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor reported today. These new data on volunteer service were collected through a supplement to the September 2002 Current Population Survey (CPS). That supplement has generated information from households across the country regarding the extent and type of volunteer service done through or for organizations. The survey found that slightly more than 1 in 4 persons age 16 and over volunteered. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian non- institutional population age 16 and over. For more information about the volunteer supplement, see the Technical Note. Some of the highlights from the 2002 data include: -- Employed persons were more likely to volunteer than persons who were unemployed or not in the labor force.