Technical information:     (202) 691-6378       USDL 07-0019
                  http://www.bls.gov/cps/
                                                For release:  10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact:                   691-5902       Wednesday, January 10, 2007


                  VOLUNTEERING IN THE UNITED STATES, 2006


   About 61.2 million people volunteered through or for an organization at
least once between September 2005 and September 2006, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  The proportion
of the population who volunteered was 26.7 percent.  This is 2.1 percentage
points lower than the volunteer rate in each of the prior 3 years and slight-
ly lower than in 2002, the first year for which comparable data are available.

   These data on volunteering were collected through a supplement to the
September 2006 Current Population Survey (CPS). The supplement was sponsored
by the Corporation for National and Community Service.  Volunteers are defin-
ed as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an or-
ganization.  The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that
obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian
noninstitutional population age 16 and over.  For more information about the
volunteer supplement, see the Technical Note.

Volunteering Among Demographic Groups

   Over the year ending September 2006, both the number of volunteers and
the volunteer rate were lower than in the previous year ending September
2005.  About 30.1 percent of women and 23.0 percent of men did volunteer
work in the year ended in September 2006, down from 32.4 and 25.0 percent,
respectively, during the prior year.  As in previous years, women volun-
teered at a higher rate than men across all age groups, educational levels,
and other major characteristics.  (See tables A and 1.)

   Persons age 35 to 54 continued to be the most likely to volunteer (31.2
percent), while persons in their early twenties were the least likely (17.8
percent).  While all age groups showed declines in volunteer rates from the
prior year, the largest decline was among teenagers.  The volunteer rate
for females age 16 to 19 fell from 33.5 to 28.8 percent, and the volunteer
rate for males of that age fell from 27.4 to 24.1 percent.

   Whites continued to volunteer at a higher rate (28.3 percent) than blacks
(19.2 percent) and Asians (18.5 percent).  Among Hispanics or Latinos, 13.9
percent volunteered.

   Married persons volunteered at a higher rate (32.2 percent) than those
who had never married (20.3 percent) and those with other marital statuses
(21.3 percent).  Parents with children under age 18 were substantially more
likely to volunteer than were persons without children of that age, 34.4
percent compared with 23.6 percent.

   Individuals with higher levels of educational attainment volunteered at
higher rates than did those with less education.  More than 4 in 10 college
graduates volunteered, compared with about 2 in 10 high school graduates
and less than 1 in 10 of those with less than a high school diploma.

   Among employed persons, 28.7 percent had volunteered during the year
ended in September 2006.  By comparison, 23.8 percent of unemployed persons
and 23.1 percent of those not in the labor force volunteered.  Among the em-
ployed, part-time workers were more likely than full-time workers to have
participated in volunteer activities--35.5 versus 27.3 percent.



                                  - 2 -
   
Table A.  Volunteers by selected characteristics, September 2002 through September 2006

(Numbers in thousands)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               |                   |                   |                   |                   |                     
                               |  September 2002   |   September 2003  |   September 2004  |   September 2005  |    September 2006   
          Characteristic       |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               |          |  Per-  |          |  Per-  |          |  Per-  |          |  Per-  |          |  Per-    
                               |          |  cent  |          |  cent  |          |  cent  |          |  cent  |          |  cent    
                               |  Number  |   of   |  Number  |   of   |  Number  |   of   |  Number  |   of   |  Number  |   of     
                               |          |  popu- |          |  popu- |          |  popu- |          |  popu- |          |  popu-   
                               |          | lation |          | lation |          | lation |          | lation |          |lation    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|-------------------|----------|----------
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
              Sex              |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
Total, both sexes..............|  59,783  |  27.4  |  63,791  |  28.8  |  64,542  |  28.8  |  65,357  |  28.8  |  61,199  |  26.7    
  Men..........................|  24,706  |  23.6  |  26,805  |  25.1  |  27,011  |  25.0  |  27,370  |  25.0  |  25,546  |  23.0    
  Women........................|  35,076  |  31.0  |  36,987  |  32.2  |  37,530  |  32.4  |  37,987  |  32.4  |  35,653  |  30.1    
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
             Age               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
Total, 16 years and over.......|  59,783  |  27.4  |  63,791  |  28.8  |  64,542  |  28.8  |  65,357  |  28.8  |  61,199  |  26.7    
  16 to 24 years...............|   7,742  |  21.9  |   8,671  |  24.1  |   8,821  |  24.2  |   8,955  |  24.4  |   8,044  |  21.7    
  25 to 34 years...............|   9,574  |  24.8  |  10,337  |  26.5  |  10,046  |  25.8  |   9,881  |  25.3  |   9,096  |  23.1    
  35 to 44 years...............|  14,971  |  34.1  |  15,165  |  34.7  |  14,783  |  34.2  |  14,809  |  34.5  |  13,308  |  31.2    
  45 to 54 years...............|  12,477  |  31.3  |  13,302  |  32.7  |  13,584  |  32.8  |  13,826  |  32.7  |  13,415  |  31.2    
  55 to 64 years...............|   7,331  |  27.5  |   8,170  |  29.2  |   8,784  |  30.1  |   9,173  |  30.2  |   8,819  |  27.9    
  65 years and over............|   7,687  |  22.7  |   8,146  |  23.7  |   8,524  |   4.6  |   8,712  |  24.8  |   8,518  |  23.8    
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
    Race and Hispanic or       |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
      Latino Ethnicity.        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
White (1)......................|  52,591  |  29.2  |  55,572  |  30.6  |  55,892  |  30.5  |  56,170  |  30.4  |  52,850  |  28.3    
Black or African American (1)..|   4,896  |  19.1  |   5,145  |  20.0  |   5,435  |  20.8  |   5,879  |  22.1  |   5,211  |  19.2    
Asian (1)......................|    (2)   |   (2)  |   1,735  |  18.7  |   1,832  |  19.3  |   2,055  |  20.7  |   1,881  |  18.5    
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...|   4,059  |  15.5  |   4,364  |  15.7  |   4,102  |  14.5  |   4,511  |  15.4  |   4,212  |  13.9    
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
   Educational attainment (3)..|          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
Less than a high school        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
 diploma.......................|   2,806  |  10.1  |   2,793  |   9.9  |   2,718  |   9.6  |   2,837  |  10.0  |   2,615  |   9.3    
High school graduates, no      |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
 college (4)...................|  12,542  |  21.2  |  12,882  |  21.7  |  12,709  |  21.6  |  12,594  |  21.2  |  11,537  |  19.2    
Less than a bachelor's         |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
 degree (5)....................|  15,066  |  32.8  |  15,966  |  34.1  |  16,414  |  34.2  |  16,452  |  33.7  |  15,196  |  30.9    
College graduates..............|  21,627  |  43.3  |  23,481  |  45.6  |  23,880  |  45.7  |  24,517  |  45.8  |  23,808  |  43.3    
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
      Employment status        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
                               |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |        |          |          
Civilian labor force...........|  42,773  |  29.3  |  45,499  |  30.9  |  45,896  |  30.9  |  46,872  |  31.1  |  43,579  |  28.5    
  Employed.....................|  40,742  |  29.5  |  43,138  |  31.2  |  43,886  |  31.2  |  44,894  |  31.3  |  41,861  |  28.7    
    Full time (6)..............|  32,210  |  28.3  |  33,599  |  29.6  |  34,237  |  29.6  |  35,225  |  29.8  |  32,951  |  27.3    
    Part time (7)..............|   8,532  |  35.4  |   9,539  |  38.4  |   9,649  |  38.5  |   9,669  |  38.2  |   8,910  |  35.5    
  Unemployed...................|   2,031  |  25.1  |   2,361  |  26.7  |   2,010  |  25.6  |   1,978  |  26.4  |   1,718  |  23.8    
Not in the labor force.........|  17,010  |  23.7  |  18,293  |  24.6  |  18,646  |  24.7  |  18,485  |  24.4  |  17,621  |  23.1    
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     1 Beginning in 2003, persons who selected this race group only; persons who selected more than one race group are not included.
Prior to 2003, persons who reported more than one race group were included in the group they identified as the main race.
     2 Data for Asians were not tabulated in 2002.
     3 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
     4 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
     5 Includes the categories, some college, no degree; and associate degree.
     6 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
     7 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
     NOTE:  Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are 
not presented for all races.  In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, there-
fore, not classified by ethnicity as well as by race.  Due to the introduction of revised population controls in January 2003, 
January 2004, January 2005, and January 2006, estimated levels for 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 are not strictly comparable with each 
other or with those for 2002.  See the Technical Note for further information.



                                  - 3 -

Total Annual Hours Spent Volunteering

   Volunteers spent a median of 52 hours on volunteer activities during the
period from September 2005 to September 2006.  Men reported spending about
52 hours volunteering and women reported about 50 hours.  Median annual hours
spent on volunteer activities ranged from a high of 104 hours for volunteers
age 65 and over to a low of 36 hours for those 25 to 34 years old.  (See
table 2.)

Number and Type of Organizations

   Most volunteers were involved with either one or two organizations--68.5
and 19.8 percent, respectively.  Individuals with higher educational attain-
ment were more likely to volunteer for multiple organizations than were those
with less education.  Parents also were somewhat more likely to volunteer for
more than one organization than were persons without children under 18.  (See
table 3.)

   In 2006, the main organization--the organization for which the volunteer
worked the most hours during the year--was most frequently religious (35.0
percent of all volunteers), followed by educational/youth service related
(26.4 percent).  Another 12.7 percent of volunteers performed activities
mainly for social or community service organizations.  (See table 4.)

   Older volunteers were more likely to volunteer mainly for religious organ-
izations than were their younger counterparts.  For example, 44.7 percent of
volunteers age 65 and over did their service mainly through or for a religious
organization, compared with 30.1 percent of volunteers age 16 to 24 years.

   Among volunteers with children under 18 years old, 46.1 percent of mothers
and 36.5 percent of fathers volunteered mainly for an educational/youth ser-
vice-related organization, such as a school or sports team.  Volunteers with-
out children under 18 were considerably more likely than parents to volunteer
for other types of organizations, such as hospitals or other health organiza-
tions and social or community service organizations.

Main Volunteer Activity for Main Organization

   When volunteers were asked the main activity they performed for their main
organization, fundraising (10.9 percent) and tutoring or teaching (10.8 per-
cent) were the most frequently reported.  Men and women tended to engage in
different main activities.  Men who volunteered were most likely to engage in
general labor (11.5 percent) or to coach, referee, or supervise sports teams
(10.2 percent), while women volunteers were most likely to fundraise (12.5
percent), or tutor or teach (12.5 percent).  (See table 5.)

   Educational attainment influenced the types of activities volunteers per-
formed.  College graduates were more likely than those with less education
to provide professional or management assistance or to tutor or teach.  They
were least likely to collect, prepare, distribute, or serve food or to engage
in general labor.

   Parents were considerably more likely than those without children to engage
in some types of volunteer activities that are frequently related to children,
including coaching, refereeing, or supervising sports teams, tutoring or teach-
ing, mentoring youth, and fundraising.

How Volunteers Became Involved with Main Organization

   About 43 percent of volunteers became involved with their main organization
after being asked to volunteer, most often by someone in the oranization.  A
slightly smaller proportion, about 2 in 5 volunteers, became involved on their
own initiative; that is, they approached the organization.  (See table 6.)






                                  - 4 -

Technical Note

 
 The data in this release were collected through a supplement to the
September 2006 Current Population Survey (CPS).  The CPS--a monthly survey
of about 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the
Bureau of Labor Statistics--focuses on obtaining information on employment
and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population
age 16 and over.  The purpose of this supplement to the CPS was to obtain
information on the incidence of volunteering and the characteristics of
volunteers in the United States.

Reliability of the estimates

   Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling
error.  When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there
is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true" population
values they represent.  The exact difference, or sampling error, varies de-
pending on the particular sample selected, and this variability is measured
by the standard error of the estimate.  There is about a 90-percent chance,
or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by
no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population value because
of sampling error.  BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent
level of confidence.
     
   The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error.  Nonsampling error
can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of
the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the
sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct infor-
mation, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.

   For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and for
information on estimating standard errors, see the "Explanatory Notes and
Estimates of Error" section of Employment and Earnings.

   In January 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, the Census Bureau introduced
adjustments to the population controls for the CPS as part of its annual
update of population estimates.  The 2003 adjustment resulted in an in-
crease to the estimates for all population categories.  This increase was
partly offset by downward adjustments in 2004, 2005, and 2006.  Consequent-
ly, the estimated levels of volunteers for September 2003, 2004, 2005, and
2006 are not strictly comparable with one another, or with estimated levels
for September 2002.  These adjustments to the levels, however, should have
had only negligible effects on the volunteer rates.  In addition to the to
the population control adjustments, new questions on race and ethnicity were
introduced into the CPS in January 2003.  For a discussion of the changes in-
troduced into the CPS in January 2003, see "Revisions to the Current Popula-
tion Survey Effective in January 2003," in the February 2003 issue of Em-
ployment and Earnings, available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.
gov/cps/rvcps03.pdf.  For a discussion of the changes introduced in
January 2004, see "Adjustments to Household Survey Population Estimates
in January 2004," in the February 2004 issue of Employment and Earnings,
available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps04adj.pdf.
For a discussion of the changes introduced in January 2005, see "Adjust-
ments to Household Survey Population Estimates in January 2005," in the
February 2005 issue of Employment and Earnings, available on the BLS
Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps05adj.pdf.  For a discussion of the 
changes introduced in January 2006, see "Adjustments to Household Survey 
Population Estimates in January 2006," in the February 2006 issue of Em-
ployment and Earnings, available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls. 
gov/cps/cps06adj.pdf.


   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request.  Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral
phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

                                  - 5 -

Volunteer questions and concepts

   In the September 2006 supplement, questions on volunteer activities were
asked of all households.  Efforts were made to have household members answer
the volunteer questions for themselves.  (Generally, one member of the house-
hold answers all the questions in the CPS on behalf of the entire household.)  
Self-response was considered important for the volunteer supplement because 
research indicated that self-respondents could more easily answer questions 
on the characteristics of the volunteer activity.  About 70 percent of the 
responses were self-reports.

   The survey was introduced as follows: "This month, we are interested in
volunteer activities, that is, activities for which people are not paid,
except perhaps expenses.  We only want you to include volunteer activities
that you did through or for an organization, even if you only did them once
in a while."

   Following this introduction, respondents were asked the first supplement
question: "Since September 1st of last year, have you done any volunteer
activities through or for an organization?"

   If respondents did not answer "yes" to the first question, they were
asked the following question:  "Sometimes people don't think of activities
they do infrequently or activities they do for children's schools or youth
organizations as volunteer activities.  Since September 1st of last year,
have you done any of these types of volunteer activities?"
     
   Respondents were considered volunteers if they answered "yes" to either
of these questions.  This is the same method of identifying volunteers as
was used in each of the four prior supplements.

   A new question was added to the 2006 survey: "Sometimes people don't
think of activities they do through religious organizations as volunteer
activities.  Since September 1st of last year, have you done any of this
type of volunteer activity?"  It was asked of respondents who had answered
"no" to the previous two questions.  To maintain historical comparability
with estimates from previous surveys, these individuals were not counted as
volunteers in these tabulations, even if they answered "yes" to the new
question.  If respondents who answered "yes" to this new question had been
included as volunteers, the number of volunteers would have been 64.2 mil-
lion, and the volunteer rate would have been 28.0 percent.

   Respondents classified as volunteers were asked further questions about
the number and type of organizations for which they volunteered, total
hours spent volunteering, how they became involved with the main organiza-
tion for which they volunteered, the type of activities they performed for
the main organization, and what their main activity was.  The questions in
previous surveys about why non-volunteers didn't volunteer and if they had
ever volunteered were discontinued in 2006.
     
   The reference period for the questions on volunteering was about 1 year,
from September 1, 2005, through the survey week in September 2006.  The
reference period for other characteristics, such as labor force status,
educational attainment, and marital status, refer to the survey reference
week in September 2006.  It is possible that these characteristics were
different at the time volunteer activities were performed.

                                  - 6 -

Definitions

   Volunteers are persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities at any
point from September 1, 2005, through the survey period in September 2006.
The count of volunteers only includes persons who volunteered through or
for an organization; the figures do not include persons who volunteered in
a more informal manner.  For example, a woman who taught acting to children
through a local theater would be considered a volunteer.  However, a woman
who, on her own, organized softball games for the children in her neighbor-
hood would not be counted as a volunteer for the purpose of this survey.

   Organizations are associations, societies, or groups of people who share
a common interest.  Examples include churches, youth groups, and civic or-
ganizations.  For the purpose of this study, organizations are grouped into
eight major categories, including religious, youth, and social or community
service organizations.  (See table 4.)

   In the 2005 survey, one organization category, immigrant/refugee assis-
tance, was added to the questionnaire as a possible response.  Responses 
that were collected in this category may have been distributed over at least 
six of the major organization categories in previous years.  For this reason, 
the addition of the new response category created a break in the comparability 
of organizations between 2005 and prior years.  Because few people reported 
volunteering for immigrant/refugee assistance organizations and because the 
group was not a definite subset of any of the major organization categories, 
those persons who did report that they volunteered for immigrant/refugee as-
sistance organizations were placed in the "other" group.

   The main organization is the organization for which the volunteer worked
the most hours during the year.  If a respondent volunteered for only one
organization, it was considered the main organization, even if exact hours
were not obtained.

   In order to identify the type of main organization, respondents had to
provide information about the organization and, for those who volunteered
for more than one organization, annual hours worked for each.  Some respon-
dents did not provide the information necessary to determine the type of
main organization.  For these respondents, the follow-up questions on acti-
vities and how they became involved with the main organization asked them
to report on the organization for which they think they spent the most time
volunteering.

   Activities are the specific tasks the volunteer did for an organization.
Examples include tutoring, fundraising, and serving food.  The activity
categories were modified in 2005; thus creating a break in the comparabili-
ty of activities between 2005 and prior years.

   In 2006, a new question was added that asks respondents on which of the
activities they mentioned they spent the most time.  Previously, respondents
reported all of the activities they did for their main organization.  The
new question identifies which of them is the main activity for the main
organization.





     Table 1.  Volunteers by selected characteristics, September 2006
     
     (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                   Total, both sexes                       Men                             Women        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                        
                                                            Volunteers                       Volunteers                     Volunteers  
     Characteristics in September 2006        Civilian                        Civilian                       Civilian                   
                                              noninsti-                       noninsti-                      noninsti-                  
                                              tutional           Percent      tutional           Percent     tutional            Percent
                                              popula-    Number     of        popula-   Number     of        popula-   Number      of   
                                                tion             popula-        tion             popula-       tion              popula-                                                                  tion                            tion                            tion  
                    Age                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                        
     Total, 16 years and over................ 229,420    61,199     26.7       110,925   25,546    23.0      118,495   35,653       30.1
       16 to 24 years........................  37,027     8,044     21.7        18,696    3,574    19.1       18,331    4,470       24.4
          16 to 19 years.....................  16,751     4,426     26.4         8,497    2,046    24.1        8,254    2,380       28.8
          20 to 24 years.....................  20,276     3,618     17.8        10,199    1,528    15.0       10,077    2,090       20.7
       25 years and over..................... 192,393    53,155     27.6        92,229   21,972    23.8      100,164   31,183       31.1
          25 to 34 years.....................  39,301     9,096     23.1        19,611    3,547    18.1       19,690    5,549       28.2
          35 to 44 years.....................  42,696    13,308     31.2        21,059    5,329    25.3       21,638    7,979       36.9
          45 to 54 years.....................  43,055    13,415     31.2        21,075    5,840    27.7       21,980    7,574       34.5
          55 to 64 years.....................  31,618     8,819     27.9        15,214    3,823    25.1       16,404    4,995       30.5
          65 years and over..................  35,721     8,518     23.8        15,269    3,432    22.5       20,452    5,086       24.9
                                                                                                                                        
        Race and Hispanic or Latino                                                                                                     
                ethnicity                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                        
     White............................. ..... 186,669    52,850     28.3        91,242   22,320    24.5       95,427   30,529       32.0
     Black or African American...............  27,109     5,211     19.2        12,181    1,948    16.0       14,928    3,263       21.9
     Asian...................................  10,155     1,881     18.5         4,853      776    16.0        5,302    1,104       20.8
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity............  30,324     4,212     13.9        15,590    1,695    10.9       14,734    2,517       17.1
                                                                                                                                        
         Educational attainment (1)                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                        
     Less than a high school diploma.........  28,068     2,615      9.3        13,735    1,077     7.8       14,333    1,538       10.7
     High school graduates, no college (2)...  60,098    11,537     19.2        28,916    4,590    15.9       31,181    6,947       22.3
     Less than a bachelor's degree (3).......  49,250    15,196     30.9        22,306    5,702    25.6       26,944    9,494       35.2
     College graduates.......................  54,977    23,808     43.3        27,272   10,603    38.9       27,705   13,205       47.7
                                                                                                                                        
               Marital status                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                        
     Single, never married..................   64,101   12,982      20.3        34,285    5,734    16.7       29,816    7,248       24.3
     Married, spouse present................  119,991   38,579      32.2        60,365   17,175    28.5       59,626   21,404       35.9
     Other marital status (4)...............   45,328    9,638      21.3        16,276    2,637    16.2       29,053    7,001       24.1
                                                                                                                                        
          Presence of own children                                                                                                      
             under 18 years (5)                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                        
     Without own children under 18..........  163,860   38,627      23.6        81,834   16,696    20.4       82,026   21,931       26.7
     With own children under 18.............   65,559   22,572      34.4        29,091    8,850    30.4       36,469   13,722       37.6
                                                                                                                                        
             Employment status                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                        
     Civilian labor force...................  153,163   43,579      28.5        81,852   20,030    24.5       71,312   23,549       33.0
       Employed.............................  145,953   41,861      28.7        78,368   19,384    24.7       67,584   22,477       33.3
         Full time (6)......................  120,865   32,951      27.3        70,054   17,025    24.3       50,810   15,925       31.3
         Part time (7)......................   25,088    8,910      35.5         8,314    2,359    28.4       16,774    6,552       39.1
       Unemployed...........................    7,211    1,718      23.8         3,483      646    18.5        3,727    1,072       28.8
     Not in the labor force.................   76,256   17,621      23.1        29,073    5,516    19.0       47,183   12,105       25.7

       1 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
       2 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
       3 Includes the categories, some college, no degree; and associate degree.
       4 Includes divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
       5 Own children include sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children.  Not included are nieces, nephews,
     grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
       6 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
       7 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
       NOTE:  Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an organization at any
     point from September 1, 2005, through the survey period in September 2006.  Estimates for the above race groups
     (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races.  In
     addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are
     classified by ethnicity as well as by race.





     Table 2.  Volunteers by annual hours of volunteer activities and selected characteristics, September 2006
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                      
                                                    Percent distribution of total annual hours spent volunteering                     
                                                                        at all organizations                                          
                                           Total                                                                             Median   
                                        volunteers                                                                           annual   
     Characteristics in September 2006  (thousands)                                                                  Not     hours (1)
                                                              1 to 14  15 to 49  50 to 99    100 to   500 hours   reporting           
                                                     Total   hours(s)    hours     hours   499 hours   and over    annual             
                                                                                                                                      
                    Sex                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                      
     Total, both sexes.................   61,199     100.0     21.1       24.9      14.7      28.6       5.6        5.2        52     
       Men.............................   25,546     100.0     20.7       24.5      15.0      28.9       5.7        5.2        52     
       Women...........................   35,653     100.0     21.4       25.3      14.4      28.4       5.4        5.1        50     
                                                                                                                                      
                    Age                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                      
     Total, 16 years and over..........   61,199     100.0     21.1       24.9      14.7      28.6       5.6        5.2        52     
       16 to 24 years..................    8,044     100.0     23.5       27.4      15.3      22.7       4.0        7.1        40     
          16 to 19 years...............    4,426     100.0     22.2       29.7      16.4      21.4       3.6        6.8        40     
          20 to 24 years...............    3,618     100.0     25.0       24.7      13.9      24.2       4.6        7.6        40     
       25 years and over...............   53,155     100.0     20.7       24.5      14.6      29.5       5.8        4.8        52     
          25 to 34 years...............    9,096     100.0     28.1       27.2      14.7      22.2       3.4        4.4        36     
          35 to 44 years...............   13,308     100.0     22.6       26.8      14.9      27.0       4.9        3.8        48     
          45 to 54 years...............   13,415     100.0     19.9       25.2      15.5      29.4       5.2        4.8        52     
          55 to 64 years...............    8,819     100.0     18.1       23.0      15.2      31.9       7.0        4.8        63     
          65 years and over............    8,518     100.0     13.8       18.9      12.0      38.8       9.4        7.1       104     
                                                                                                                                      
        Race and Hispanic or Latino                                                                                                   
                 ethnicity                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                      
     White.............................   52,850     100.0     20.8       25.1      14.8     29.1        5.4        4.7        52     
     Black or African American.........    5,211     100.0     21.0       21.6      14.9     26.1        7.0        9.5        52     
     Asian.............................    1,881     100.0     30.7       25.5      12.6     21.2        4.4        5.6        30     
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity......    4,212     100.0     22.5       26.0      14.2     25.5        5.1        6.7        42     
                                                                                                                                      
         Educational attainment (2)                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                      
     Less than a high school diploma...    2,615     100.0     22.6       23.1      15.7     24.0        7.2        7.4        50     
     High school graduates, no                                                                                                        
       college (3).....................   11,537     100.0     22.7       23.1      12.9     28.9        5.8        6.5        52     
     Less than a bachelor's degree (4).   15,196     100.0     21.8       24.9      14.2     29.4        5.7        4.1        52     
     College graduates.................   23,808     100.0     18.8       25.2      15.6     30.5        5.7        4.2        55     
                                                                                                                                      
               Marital status                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                      
     Single, never married.............   12,982     100.0     24.3       27.4      14.4     23.8        4.3        5.9        40     
     Married, spouse present...........   38,579     100.0     19.8       24.2      15.1     30.5        5.6        4.8        52     
     Other marital status (5)..........    9,638     100.0     21.9       24.6      13.5     27.4        7.2        5.5        50     
                                                                                                                                      
          Presence of own children                                                                                                    
             under 18 years (6)                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                      
     Men:                                                                                                                             
       No own children under 18 years                                                                                                 
         old............................  16,696     100.0     20.2       24.5      14.3     28.6        6.6        5.8        52     
       With own children under 18 years                                                                                               
         old............................   8,850     100.0     21.6       24.4      16.5     29.4        4.1        4.0        52     
     Women:                                                                                                                           
       No own children under 18 years                                                                                                 
         old............................  21,931     100.0     20.2       24.2      14.0     30.2        5.8        5.5        52     
       With own children under 18 years                                                                                               
         old...........................   13,722     100.0     23.3       26.9      15.1     25.5        4.8        4.4        44     
                                                                                                                                      
             Employment status                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                      
     Civilian labor force..............   43,579     100.0     22.5       26.2      15.0     27.1        4.7        4.6        48     
       Employed........................   41,861     100.0     22.4       26.3      15.1     27.1        4.6        4.5        48     
         Full time (7).................   32,951     100.0     23.0       26.6      15.3     26.3        4.3        4.5        48     
         Part time (8).................    8,910     100.0     20.1       25.1      14.3     29.9        5.8        4.8        52     
       Unemployed......................    1,718     100.0     23.7       24.8      12.3     27.3        6.2        5.6        48     
     Not in the labor force............   17,621     100.0     17.7       21.7      14.0     32.4        7.6        6.6        70     

       1 For those reporting annual hours.
       2 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
       3 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
       4 Includes the categories, some college, no degree; and associate degree.
       5 Includes divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
       6 Own children include sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children.  Not included are nieces, nephews,
     grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
       7 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
       8 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
       NOTE:  Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an organization at any
     point from September 1, 2005, through the survey period in September 2006.  Estimates for the above race groups
     (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races.  In
     addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are
     classified by ethnicity as well as by race.





     Table 3.  Volunteers by number of organizations for which volunteer activities were performed
     and selected characteristics, September 2006
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                          Percent distribution of the number of     
                                                      organizations for which volunteer activities  
                                                                     were performed                 
                                            Total                                                   
      Characteristics in September 2006  volunteers                                                 
                                         (thousands)                                          Not   
                                                                                   Five   reporting 
                                                    Total  One   Two  Three  Four   or    number of 
                                                                                   more   organiza- 
                                                                                            tions   
                                                                                                                                                                                                        
                     Sex                                                                            
                                                                                                    
     Total, both sexes..................   61,199   100.0  68.5  19.8   7.3   2.4   1.7       0.3   
       Men..............................   25,546   100.0  69.6  19.3   7.0   2.3   1.5        .2   
       Women............................   35,653   100.0  67.8  20.1   7.5   2.5   1.8        .3   
                                                                                                    
                     Age                                                                            
                                                                                                    
     Total, 16 years and over...........   61,199   100.0  68.5  19.8   7.3   2.4   1.7        .3   
       16 to 24 years...................    8,044   100.0  73.8  18.0   5.4   1.5    .8        .5   
          16 to 19 years................    4,426   100.0  71.3  19.6   5.9   1.8   1.0        .4   
          20 to 24 years................    3,618   100.0  76.8  16.1   4.7   1.1    .5        .7   
       25 years and over................   53,155   100.0  67.7  20.1   7.6   2.6   1.8        .2   
          25 to 34 years................    9,096   100.0  74.6  16.5   5.6   1.7   1.3        .3   
          35 to 44 years................   13,308   100.0  67.0  20.9   8.0   2.3   1.5        .2   
          45 to 54 years................   13,415   100.0  64.6  21.6   8.3   2.9   2.3        .2   
          55 to 64 years................    8,819   100.0  66.7  19.7   8.1   3.3   1.9        .3   
          65 years and over.............    8,518   100.0  67.5  20.5   7.3   2.6   1.9        .2   
                                                                                                    
         Race and Hispanic or Latino                                                                
                 ethnicity                                                                          
                                                                                                    
     White..............................   52,850   100.0  67.3  20.5   7.7   2.5   1.7        .3   
     Black or African American..........    5,211   100.0  75.7  14.7   5.3   2.3   1.3        .7   
     Asian..............................    1,881   100.0  80.0  15.4   3.2    .2   1.1        .1   
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.......    4,212   100.0  78.8  14.5   4.6    .9    .8        .4   
                                                                                                    
         Educational attainment (1)                                                                 
                                                                                                    
     Less than a high school diploma....    2,615   100.0  87.2   9.3   2.2    .8    .3        .2   
     High school graduates, no                                                                      
        college (2).....................   11,537   100.0  77.0  16.1   4.3   1.3   1.0        .3   
     Less than a bachelor's                                                                         
        degree (3)......................   15,196   100.0  70.5  19.0   6.8   2.3   1.2        .2   
     College graduates..................   23,808   100.0  59.3  23.9  10.3   3.5   2.7        .3   
                                                                                                    
               Marital status                                                                       
                                                                                                    
     Single, never married..............   12,982   100.0  72.7  18.0   5.6   2.0   1.3        .4   
     Married, spouse present............   38,579   100.0  66.8  20.9   7.8   2.6   1.7        .2   
     Other marital status (4)...........    9,638   100.0  69.9  17.9   7.6   2.3   1.9        .4   
                                                                                                    
      Presence of own children under 18                                                             
                 years (5)                                                                          
                                                                                                    
     Men:                                                                                           
       No own children under 18 years                                                               
          old...........................   16,696   100.0  70.4  18.7   6.8   2.4   1.4       0.3   
       With own children under 18 years                                                             
          old...........................    8,850   100.0  68.0  20.5   7.3   2.2   1.8        .2   
     Women:                                                                                         
       No own children under 18 years                                                               
         old............................   21,931   100.0  69.0  19.6   7.1   2.3   1.6        .4   
       With own children under 18 years                                                             
         old............................   13,722   100.0  65.8  21.0   8.2   2.8   2.1        .2   
                                                                                                    
              Employment status                                                                     
                                                                                                    
     Civilian labor force...............   43,579   100.0  68.0  20.1   7.6   2.4   1.7        .3   
       Employed.........................   41,861   100.0  67.8  20.2   7.6   2.4   1.7        .3   
         Full time (6)..................   32,951   100.0  68.2  20.0   7.6   2.3   1.7        .2   
         Part time (7)..................    8,910   100.0  66.3  21.0   7.8   3.0   1.6        .3   
       Unemployed.......................    1,718   100.0  72.7  18.4   5.3   1.8   1.8         -   
     Not in the labor force.............   17,621   100.0  69.9  19.0   6.7   2.4   1.6        .4   

       1 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
       2 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
       3 Includes the categories, some college, no degree; and associate degree.
       4 Includes divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
       5 Own children include sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children.  Not included are
     nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
       6 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
       7 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
       NOTE:  Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for
     an organization at any point from September 1, 2005, through the survey period in September
     2006.  Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not
     sum to totals because data are not presented for all races.  In addition, persons whose
     ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified
     by ethnicity as well as by race.  Dash represents or rounds to zero.





     Table 4.  Volunteers by type of main organization for which volunteer activities were performed and
     selected characteristics, September 2006
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   
                                      Percent distribution of volunteers by type of main organization (1)          
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   
                              Total           Civic,                                                               
      Characteristics         volun-          polit-    Educa-   Envi-  Hos-             Social  Sport,            
       in September           teers            ical,    tional   ron-  pital  Pub-         or     hobby,       Not 
           2006               (thou-   Total  profes-     or    mental   or   lic   Reli- commu-  cul-  Other deter-
                               sands)         sional,   youth     or   other safe- gious  nity   tural,       mined
                                              or inter-  ser-   animal health ty         service or arts           
                                              national   vice    care                                              
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
            Sex                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                   
     Total, both sexes......... 61,199  100.0     6.1     26.4    1.6   8.1   1.3   35.0   12.7   3.7    3.4   1.5 
        Men.................... 25,546  100.0     7.9     23.9    1.6   6.1   2.3   34.9   13.5   4.6    3.6   1.7 
        Women.................. 35,653  100.0     4.9     28.2    1.6   9.6    .6   35.1   12.1   3.1    3.4   1.4 
                                                                                                                   
            Age                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                   
     Total, 16 years and                                                                                           
     over...................... 61,199  100.0     6.1     26.4    1.6   8.1   1.3   35.0   12.7   3.7    3.4   1.5 
       16 to 24 years..........  8,044  100.0     4.5     31.7    2.0   8.0   1.3   30.1   13.3   3.2    4.2   1.8 
          16 to 19 years.......  4,426  100.0     4.4     35.6    1.9   7.2    .8   30.0   11.9   3.3    3.3   1.6 
          20 to 24 years.......  3,618  100.0     4.6     27.1    2.0   8.9   2.0   30.1   15.0   3.2    5.2   1.9 
       25 years and over....... 53,155  100.0     6.4     25.6    1.6   8.2   1.3   35.8   12.6   3.8    3.3   1.5 
          25 to 34 years.......  9,096  100.0     5.8     34.3    1.7   8.8   1.5   28.4   11.6   3.1    3.5   1.4 
          35 to 44 years....... 13,308  100.0     4.2     39.0    1.0   6.1   1.3   31.4    9.9   3.1    2.7   1.2 
          45 to 54 years....... 13,415  100.0     6.7     26.3    1.9   7.5   1.3   35.9   12.3   3.7    2.7   1.7 
          55 to 64 years.......  8,819  100.0     7.8     13.0    2.1  10.4   1.6   41.2   13.9   4.7    3.7   1.5 
          65 years and over....  8,518  100.0     8.5      7.4    1.4   9.4   1.0   44.7   16.9   4.5    4.6   1.6 
                                                                                                                   
     Race and Hispanic or                                                                                          
       Latino ethnicity                                                                                            
                                                                                                                   
     White..................... 52,850  100.0     6.3     26.4    1.8   8.4   1.4   34.2   12.8   3.9    3.4   1.4 
     Black or African                                                                                              
        American...............  5,211  100.0     4.6     26.1     .4   5.2    .6   43.3   11.9   1.8    3.7   2.5 
     Asian.....................  1,881  100.0     5.1     25.6     .6   9.8    .2   39.8    9.8   3.1    4.0   1.9 
     Hispanic or Latino                                                                                            
        ethnicity............... 4,212  100.0     3.1     35.6     .4   5.5    .7   35.1   10.4   3.9    3.5   1.7 
                                                                                                                   
     Educational attainment (2)                                                                                    
                                                                                                                   
     Less than a high school                                                                                       
        diploma................  2,615  100.0     4.0     21.2     .8   6.0   1.9   43.1   14.4   3.1    4.4   1.2 
     High school graduates, no                                                                                     
        college (3)............ 11,537  100.0     6.0     23.2    1.0   8.2   2.2   39.8   12.4   3.0    3.0   1.2 
     Less than a  bachelor's                                                                                       
        degree (4)............. 15,196  100.0     6.0     26.7    1.4   8.6   1.6   35.4   12.5   3.6    3.4   1.0 
     College  graduates........ 23,808  100.0     7.1     26.6    2.1   8.1    .7   33.2   12.6   4.3    3.4   1.9 
                                                                                                                   
      Marital status                                                                                               
                                                                                                                   
     Single, never married..... 12,982  100.0     5.9     28.8    2.2   9.6   1.6   27.1   14.9   4.0    4.4   1.5 
     Married, spouse                                                                                               
        present................ 38,579  100.0     6.0     26.8    1.4   7.0   1.3   38.6   10.9   3.6    2.8   1.5 
     Other marital                                                                                                 
        status (5).............  9,638  100.0     6.9     21.6    1.9  10.5   1.0   31.6   16.7   3.3    4.8   1.7 
                                                                                                                   
      Presence of own                                                                                              
         children                                                                                                  
       under 18 years (6)                                                                                          
                                                                                                                   
     Men:                                                                                                          
       No own children under                                                                                       
          18 years old........  16,696  100.0     9.1     17.2    2.0   7.3   2.5   35.3   16.0   4.8    4.2   1.6 
       With own children under                                                                                     
          18  years old........  8,850  100.0     5.7     36.5     .9   3.8   2.0   34.2    8.8   4.0    2.4   1.7 
     Women:                                                                                                        
       No own children under                                                                                       
          18 years old......... 21,931  100.0     5.7     17.0    2.3  12.0    .8   38.1   14.8   3.8    4.1   1.4 
       With own children under                                                                                     
          18 years old........  13,722  100.0     3.5     46.1     .6   5.9    .4   30.2    7.8   1.9    2.1   1.4 
                                                                                                                   
      Employment status                                                                                            
                                                                                                                   
     Civilian labor force...... 43,579  100.0     6.3     28.1    1.7   8.2   1.6   33.3   12.2   3.8    3.4   1.5 
       Employed................ 41,861  100.0     6.3     27.8    1.7   8.2   1.6   33.6   12.2   3.8    3.3   1.5 
         Full time (7)......... 32,951  100.0     6.9     27.2    1.7   8.1   1.7   33.3   12.3   3.8    3.4   1.5 
         Part time (8).........  8,910  100.0     4.1     30.4    1.7   8.4   1.0   34.5   11.7   3.8    3.1   1.5 
       Unemployed..............  1,718  100.0     5.2     33.4    2.7   7.7   1.6   27.7   14.1   3.0    3.7    .9 
     Not in the labor force.... 17,621  100.0     5.8     22.3    1.4   8.0    .8   39.2   13.8   3.5    3.7   1.5 
     
       1 Main organization is defined as the organization for which the volunteer worked the most hours during
     the year.  See the Technical Note for more details.
       2 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
       3 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
       4 Includes the categories, some college, no degree; and associate degree.
       5 Includes divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
       6 Own children include sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children.  Not included are nieces,
     nephews, grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
       7 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
       8 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
       NOTE:  Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an
     organization at any point from September 1, 2005, through the survey period in September 2006.  Estimates
     for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data
     are not presented for all races.  In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or
     Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race.





     Table 5.  Main volunteer activity for main organization for which activities were performed and selected characteristics, 
     September 2006
                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                             
                                                Percent distribution of main volunteer activity for main organization (1)                    
                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                         Pro-             En-                
                                                                                                         vide            gage                
                                                                          Collect,        Pro-           profes-          in                 
                                                                          make or         vide           sional   Engage  gen-               
                                       Coach                       Col-   distri-         coun-            or      in     eral               
                               Total   ref-                        lect,   bute    Fund-  seling,        manage-  music,  lab-          Equal
                               volun-  eree,                Be an  pre-   cloth-   raise  medi-  Provide  ment    perfor-, or,           time
        Characteristics in     teers    or,   Tutor         usher, pare,   ing,      or    cal   general assis-   mance,  sup-          among
          September 2006       (thou-  super-   or   Mentor greet- dis-    crafts  sell   care,   office  tance,   or,    ply    Other   all 
                               sands)  vise   teach  youth  er, or tri-   or goods items  fire/,  ser-   includ-  other   trans-             
                                       sports               mini-  bute,   other     to   EMS,    vices    ing    artis-  port-              
                                       teams                ster    or     than    raise   or,           serving   tices  ation              
                                                                   serve   food    money  pro-            on a    activ-   to                
                                                                   food                   tec-           board    ities   peo-               
                                                                                          tive             or             ple                
                                                                                          ser-           commi-                              
                                                                                         vices            tee                                
                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
                Sex                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                             
     Total, both sexes........ 61,199   5.8    10.8    5.5    4.2    8.8    3.2    10.9    2.9    4.5     8.1      4.3     7.9    14.0   9.1 
       Men.................... 25,546  10.2     8.4    5.4    5.2    6.7    2.0     8.7    3.6    2.6     9.7      4.3    11.5    13.2   8.5 
       Women.................. 35,653   2.7    12.5    5.6    3.4   10.4    4.1    12.5    2.4    5.9     7.0      4.2     5.3    14.6   9.4 
                                                                                                                                             
                Age                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                             
     Total, 16 years and                                                                                                                     
     over..................... 61,199   5.8    10.8    5.5    4.2    8.8    3.2    10.9    2.9    4.5     8.1      4.3     7.9    14.0   9.1 
       16 to 24 years.........  8,044   6.5    11.7    7.8    2.6    7.9    3.0     9.9    3.1    2.8     2.2      6.0    11.2    16.0   9.3 
          16 to 19 years......  4,426   6.9     9.4    7.5    2.5    8.7    3.5    10.6    1.7    2.2     2.1      7.1    11.7    16.2   9.8 
          20 to 24 years......  3,618   6.0    14.6    8.3    2.8    7.0    2.2     9.0    4.8    3.5     2.2      4.6    10.7    15.7   8.8 
       25 years and over...... 53,155   5.7    10.6    5.2    4.4    9.0    3.3    11.1    2.8    4.8     9.0      4.0     7.4    13.7   9.0 
          25 to 34 years......  9,096   7.4    13.7    8.2    2.8    6.9    2.8    12.1    3.8    3.3     5.7      4.1     7.8    13.5   7.8 
          35 to 44 years...... 13,308  10.0    13.4    6.5    3.0    7.3    2.9    12.0    2.4    3.6     7.2      3.3     6.0    13.6   8.8 
          45 to 54 years...... 13,415   5.4     9.4    5.5    5.0    8.4    2.7    12.4    2.9    4.5    10.2      3.8     8.4    12.8   8.6 
          55 to 64 years......  8,819   2.8     8.9    2.8    5.4   10.2    3.4     9.6    3.3    5.3    12.7      4.3     7.7    13.3  10.2 
          65 years and over...  8,518    .7     6.8    1.7    6.3   13.4    5.3     7.8    1.9    8.1     9.7      5.0     7.1    16.1  10.2 
                                                                                                                                             
       Race and Hispanic or                                                                                                                  
         Latino ethnicity                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                             
     White.................... 52,850    6.0   10.8    5.3    4.1    8.7    3.2    11.2    2.8    4.6     8.5      4.1      7.9   14.2   8.7 
     Black or African                                                                                                                        
       American...............  5,211    5.7   10.4    6.8    5.5    9.3    4.1     8.6    3.4    4.0     5.5      5.7      6.8   11.7  12.6 
     Asian....................  1,881    3.4   12.2    4.7    3.9   10.8    3.1     8.9    3.7    4.4     7.2      4.6      8.6   17.2   7.3 
     Hispanic or Latino                                                                                                                      
     ethnicity................  4,212    7.4   11.3    6.5    3.9   10.7    4.1    10.4    2.1    4.1     3.8      4.1      7.0   15.1   9.4 
                                                                                                                                             
      Educational attainment (2)                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                             
     Less than a high school                                                                                                                 
        diploma...............   2,615    4.4   8.2   3.3    4.5   17.3     5.0     7.7    1.3    3.3     2.5      3.0     11.4   16.6  11.5 
     High school graduates, no                                                                                                               
        college (3)............ 11,537    5.4   8.3   3.9    4.9   13.1     3.8    11.9    2.4    5.2     5.0      3.4      8.8   14.5   9.3 
     Less than a bachelor's                                                                                                                  
     degree (4)...............  15,196    5.7  10.3   5.0    4.3    9.1     3.3    12.5    2.9    5.4     6.4      3.9      7.6   13.8   9.7 
     College graduates........  23,808    6.0  12.3   6.1    4.2    5.9     2.8    10.1    3.2    4.3    13.3      4.4      6.1   13.0   8.2 
                                                                                                                                             
          Marital status                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                             
     Single, never married....  12,982    6.0   9.7   7.6    3.0    7.9     3.2    10.8    3.8    3.6     4.8      5.6      9.9   15.3   8.8 
     Married, spouse                                                                                                                         
     present..................  38,579    6.2  11.6   5.2    4.6    8.5     2.9    10.9    2.8    4.4     9.3      3.9      7.5   13.0   9.2 
     Other marital status (5).   9,638    4.1   9.2   4.0    4.0   11.5     4.6    11.1    2.0    6.1     7.9      3.8      6.6   16.3   8.9 
                                                                                                                                             
     Presence of own children                                                                                                                
         under 18 years (6)                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                             
     Men:                                                                                                                                    
       No own children under                                                                                                                 
          18 years old......... 16,696    5.5   7.5   5.0    5.6    7.7     2.4     9.3    3.9    3.1    10.2      5.0     12.2   13.8   8.7 
       With own children under                                                                                                               
          18 years old.........  8,850   18.9   9.9   6.1    4.6    4.6     1.3     7.5    3.0    1.7     8.8      3.1     10.2   12.1   8.1 
     Women:                                                                                                                                  
       No own children under                                                                                                                 
          18 years old........  21,931    1.8  10.4   4.7    4.1   11.3     4.6    10.9    2.8    6.4     7.3      4.8      6.1   15.2   9.5 
       With own children under                                                                                                               
          18 years old......... 13,722    4.2  15.9   7.2    2.3    8.9     3.4    15.0    1.7    4.9     6.3      3.3      3.9   13.6   9.4 
                                                                                                                                             
         Employment status                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                             
     Civilian labor force.....  43,579    7.0  10.9   6.0    4.2   7.9      2.7    11.6    3.2    3.7     8.9      4.1      8.0   13.2   8.7 
       Employed...............  41,861    7.2  10.9   6.0    4.2   7.9      2.7    11.7    3.2    3.7     9.0      4.0      7.9   13.1   8.6 
         Full time (7)........  32,951    8.0  10.4   6.0    4.5   7.7      2.5    11.7    3.3    3.3     9.7      3.7      8.1   12.5   8.7 
         Part time (8)........   8,910    4.1  12.8   6.2    3.3   8.3      3.2    11.5    2.8    5.0     6.3      5.0      7.4   15.4   8.5 
       Unemployed.............   1,718    3.9  10.7   4.8    3.3   8.7      4.4    10.6    2.1    4.2     6.5      6.5      9.8   15.0   9.6 
     Not in the labor force...  17,621    2.9  10.5   4.4    4.1  11.1      4.5     9.1    2.2    6.5     6.2      4.7      7.6   16.1  10.0 

       1 Main organization is defined as the organization for which the volunteer worked the most hours during the year.  See
     the Technical Note for more details.
       2 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
       3 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
       4 Includes the categories, some college, no degree; and associate degree.
       5 Includes divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
       6 Own children include sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children.  Not included are nieces, nephews,
     grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
       7 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
       8 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
       NOTE:  Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an organization at any point
     from September 1, 2005, through the survey period in September 2006.  Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or
     African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races.  In addition, persons whose
     ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by
     race.  1.8 percent of volunteers did not report the type of activity.





     Table 6.  Volunteers by how they became involved with main organization for which volunteer activities
     were performed and selected characteristics, September 2006
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
                                          Percent distribution of how volunteers became involved with main        
                                                                  organization (1)                                
                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                  
                               Total                             Was asked by:                                    
       Characteristics in      volun-                                                                        Not  
         September 2006        teers         Approach-                                                     report-
                               (thou-          ed the                      Rela-   Someone                 ing how
                                sands) Total  organi-            Boss or   tive     in the          Other  became 
                                              zation  Total (2)  employer  friend, organi-   Some-           in-  
                                                                             or     zation/   one          volved 
                                                                            co-     school    else                
                                                                           worker                                 
                                                                                                                       Total, both sexes......... 61,199  100.0    40.8     43.3      1.4     14.2     26.5     1.1    13.5    2.3  
       Men..................... 25,546  100.0    40.1     44.3      1.5     15.4     26.1     1.3    13.3    2.3  
       Women................... 35,653  100.0    41.4     42.6      1.3     13.4     26.9      .9    13.7    2.3  
                                                                                                                  
              Age                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                  
     Total, 16 years and                                                                                          
     over...................... 61,199  100.0    40.8     43.3      1.4     14.2     26.5     1.1    13.5    2.3  
       16 to 24 years..........  8,044  100.0    40.8     40.3      1.1     14.7     22.4     1.8    15.7    3.2  
          16 to 19 years.......  4,426  100.0    40.3     41.2       .4     14.3     24.4     2.0    15.7    2.9  
          20 to 24 years.......  3,618  100.0    41.5     39.1      1.9     15.2     19.9     1.6    15.7    3.6  
       25 years and over....... 53,155  100.0    40.8     43.8      1.4     14.1     27.2     1.0    13.2    2.2  
          25 to 34 years.......  9,096  100.0    40.5     45.2      2.5     17.1     24.3     1.1    12.1    2.2  
          35 to 44 years....... 13,308  100.0    41.3     43.9      1.7     12.2     29.0      .9    13.0    1.8  
          45 to 54 years....... 13,415  100.0    39.2     44.6      1.3     14.2     28.0      .9    13.9    2.4  
          55 to 64 years.......  8,819  100.0    40.5     43.6      1.1     14.6     26.6     1.2    13.8    2.0  
          65 years and over....  8,518  100.0    43.4     41.2       .2     13.5     26.5      .8    13.0    2.3  
                                                                                                                  
      Race and Hispanic or                                                                                        
       Latino ethnicity                                                                                           
                                                                                                                  
     White...................   52,850  100.0    40.5     43.9      1.3     14.4     26.9     1.1    13.5    2.2  
     Black or African                                                                                             
        American.............    5,211  100.0    42.6     40.3      1.8     11.9     25.0     1.4    13.8    3.3  
     Asian...................    1,881  100.0    45.8     38.1      1.4     14.0     22.2      .5    12.6    3.4  
     Hispanic or Latino                                                                                           
        ethnicity............    4,212  100.0    43.3     40.5      1.7     13.2     24.1     1.5    13.0    3.2  
                                                                                                                  
     Educational attainment (3)                                                                                   
                                                                                                                  
     Less than a high school                                                                                      
        diploma..............    2,615  100.0    41.6     41.4       .9     15.5     24.7      .2    15.3    1.7  
     High school graduates,no                                                                                     
        college (4)...........  11,537  100.0    40.3     43.4      1.2     14.2     26.8     1.0    14.2    2.2  
     Less than a bachelor's                                                                                       
        degree (5)............  15,196  100.0    39.9     45.4      1.4     15.1     27.7     1.1    13.1    1.6  
     College graduates........  23,808  100.0    41.6     43.3      1.6     13.3     27.3     1.0    12.6    2.5  
                                                                                                                  
         Marital status                                                                                           
                                                                                                                  
     Single, never married..... 12,982  100.0    41.6     40.7      1.6     15.8     21.4     1.6    14.8    2.8  
     Married, spouse present... 38,579  100.0    40.6     44.6      1.2     13.3     28.9     1.0    12.8    2.0  
     Other marital status (6)..  9,638  100.0    40.5     42.0      1.6     15.5     23.7      .9    14.9    2.6  
                                                                                                                  
        Presence of own                                                                                           
       children under                                                                                             
         18 years (7)                                                                                             
                                                                                                                  
     Men:                                                                                                         
       No own children under                                                                                      
          18 years old......... 16,696  100.0    40.3     43.3      1.5     16.5     24.1     1.3    13.7    2.6  
       With own children under                                                                                    
          18 years old.........  8,850  100.0    39.5     46.1      1.6     13.4     29.8     1.3    12.4    1.9  
     Women:                                                                                                       
       No own children under                                                                                      
          18 years old......... 21,931  100.0    42.2    41.4      1.3     14.7      24.0     1.0    14.0    2.5  
       With own children under                                                                                    
          18 years old......... 13,722  100.0    40.1    44.7      1.1     11.2      31.4      .8    13.3    1.9  
                                                                                                                  
       Employment status                                                                                          
                                                                                                                  
     Civilian labor force...... 43,579  100.0    39.6    44.5      1.8     14.8      26.7     1.0    13.8    2.1  
       Employed................ 41,861  100.0    39.3    44.8      1.9     14.9      26.9     1.0    13.7    2.2  
         Full time (8)......... 32,951  100.0    38.9    45.0      2.3     15.3      26.4     1.0    13.8    2.2  
         Part time (9).........  8,910  100.0    40.9    43.8       .4     13.4      28.9      .8    13.2    2.1  
       Unemployed..............  1,718  100.0    44.9    38.6      1.1     12.4      22.8     2.4    15.5    1.0  
     Not in the labor force.... 17,621  100.0    44.0    40.4       .2     12.9      26.0     1.2    12.9    2.7  
    
       1 Main organization is defined as the organization for which the volunteer worked the most hours
     during the year.  See the Technical Note for more details.
       2 Includes persons who did not specify who asked them to volunteer, not shown separately.
       3 Data refer to persons 25 years and over.
       4 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
       5 Includes the categories, some college, no degree; and associate degree.
       6 Includes divorced, separated, and widowed persons.
       7 Own children include sons, daughters, stepchildren, and adopted children.  Not included are nieces,
     nephews, grandchildren, and other related and unrelated children.
       8 Usually work 35 hours or more a week at all jobs.
       9 Usually work less than 35 hours a week at all jobs.
       NOTE:  Data on volunteers relate to persons who performed unpaid volunteer activities for an
     organization at any point from September 1, 2005, through the survey period in September 2006. 
     Estimates for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals
     because data are not presented for all races.  In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as
     Hispanic or Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race.