Public Life Advocate: The Tracker, Jan. 2006
* Social connectedness is a much stronger predictor of the perceived quality of life in a community than the community's income or educational level. * Youth volunteering is up since 1995, but the gap in volunteering between children with a college-graduate mother and children with a high-school dropout mother increased by almost 50 percent since 1976. * 82% of high school seniors volunteered in 2004, a 14% jump from 1986. * In 2005, 42% of those volunteering became involved because they were asked by someone in the organization. * Persons age 35 to 44 are most likely to volunteer (35%), closely followed by 45 to 54 year-olds (33%). * Married persons volunteer at a higher rate (34%) than never-married persons (23%) and persons of other marital statuses (23%). * Parents with children under age 18 are more likely to volunteer than persons without children of that age, 37% compared with 26%. * Among volunteers with children under 18 years old, 45% of mothers and 36% of fathers