•  The final issue, outlined on the fourth row of Figure 10, is about comparing volunteers with paid workers. In carrying out the same activity as a paid employee, volunteers may be more enthusiastic, but also less capable. I am more enthusiastic about painting a shed than my local decorator, but also less competent. So it is not altogether clear whether the wages of paid workers are good proxies for volunteering value or not, with uncertainties on both sides. The final row in Figure 10 offers estimates of the overall contribution of volunteering to the UK economy. It suggests this could exceed £ billion per year, or around 3.5% of annual UK GDP. This would place the volunteering sector on a level pegging with the UK energy sector (both extraction and utilities). Very few sectors add more value. Clearly, the inner layer of the volunteering onion – economic value – is a very significant one. 11  These new estimates can be found at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedomof-information/what-can-i-request/published-ad-hoc-data/econ/august-2014/hhsa-consistent-estimates-of-thevalue-of-informal-voluntary-activity-in-2012-13.xls. 12  This calculation uses the following industries: professional and support services; distribution, transport, hotels and restaurants; government, health and education; and other services. The calculation also includes an adjustment for “mixed income” – that is, the income of the self-employed that is classified separately in the national accounts but which arguably reflects a return to labour rather than capital. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Private value of volunteering The second layer of the onion is the private benefit from volunteering.

This was one of the key motivations behind PBE – to harness the skills of economists in ways which most benefitted charities. 31  For further details see: http://investors.crisis.org.uk/. 32  Citizenship Survey 2010/11. 12  BIS central bankers’ speeches  And what is true of economists is no less true of other professions and occupations, whose skills might be better targeted and harnessed than at present. It is known that using their skills is more likely to persuade someone to volunteer in the first place. 33 One example of that would be the charity “Datakind”, which harnesses the skills of budding data scientists to help solve social problems. More generally, the potential to improve further such skillmatching between volunteers and charitable activities is considerable. Employer incentives It is in employers’ power to make volunteering work in their firms – for example, by allowing flexible working hours or a certain amount of paid volunteer leave. It is also, as I have discussed, potentially in their own interest from a satisfaction and productivity perspective. A number of employers appeared to have heeded that message. For example, in 2011 the Civil Service began formally encouraging civil servants to spend one day a year volunteering – “to turn the civil service into a civic service”. 34 My home institution, the Bank of England, adopts a similar approach. In support of this, volunteering England provide online guidance to help employers set up Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) schemes.