German Survey on Volunteering 2004

The German Survey on Volunteering (FWS) is a representative survey on volunteering in Germany, aimed at people aged 14 and older. Voluntary activities and willingness to get involved are surveyed in telephone interviews (CATI). The Survey on Volunteering is the main basis of social reporting on volunteering in the Federal Republic of Germany and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ).

The data of the Survey on Volunteering were collected in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. In each wave, an independent sample was drawn, resulting in five cross-sectional data sets. Previously, the surveys were managed and conducted by TNS Infratest Social Research (1999 Infratest Burke). Since the end of 2011, the scientific management has been in the hands of the German Center of Gerontology (DZA). Data collection for the fourth wave in 2014 and the fifth wave in 2019 was conducted by infas Institute for Applied Social Science.

The samples of all surveys were disproportionately stratified by state in order to achieve a sufficient sample size for separate state evaluations for each of the 16 federal states. In each case, the sampling frame was generated using the random-digit-dialing procedure (1999 random-last-digit procedure) according to the ADM standard.

The second wave was conducted in the survey period from 22. April 2004 to 15. July 2004. The 2004 Survey on Volunteers focused on the following topics: volunteering, the individual, and the context of volunteering.<br>1. Living situation: employment status; type of current education; type of school; full-day school or half-day school; length of residence at place of residence (since birth, for more than 10 years, for less than 10 years); number of years if less than 10 years at current place of residence; housing satisfaction; assessment of social cohesion in neighborhood; size of local circle of friends and acquaintances; living with others or alone; household size and composition; respondent is caregiver of child/children; enough time for other things besides childcare and housework; number of preschool children; age of these preschool children; for youngest, second youngest, third youngest child was asked: Care outside the family for pay; type of care; full-day or half-day care; number of school-age children up to age 14; age of these school-age children; full-day care outside the family; person in need of care in the household; person in need of care is respondent or other person; respondent is main caregiver; enough time for other things besides care and housework; support persons available when help is needed; support services received from persons outside the household; (relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, friends, or other persons); support services/neighborly help received by oneself; belonging to a religious denomination or religious community; denomination; church affiliation; political interest.

2. Recording of voluntary activities: Active participation in 15 possible activity or engagement areas (e.g., sports and exercise, culture and music, leisure and socializing, etc.); volunteer involvement in areas with active participation. ); volunteering in areas with active participation; time spent on volunteering per week; willingness to take on further volunteering tasks; age at which one first became involved in volunteering; significance of volunteering in one´s own life; agreement with statements about volunteering (getting together with other people through my involvement, a task that needs to be done, helping to shape society through my involvement, my involvement is a form of political commitment).

3. Structural characteristics and motivating factors of volunteer activity: area of volunteer activity with the greatest time commitment; term that best describes the commitment; group of people involved; commitment to children and young people: Group of persons preschool children, school children up to 14 years, young people over 14 years or mixed age; engagement for own children; engagement in connection with school/ with activities at the college; exercise of the activity in an inpatient/ partly inpatient facility for children and young people; open offer/ outpatient service for children and young people; engagement for disabled persons: inpatient/partial inpatient facility; open offer/outpatient service; engagement for elderly inpatient/partial inpatient facility; open offer/outpatient service; organizational framework; number of association members; membership in this association (association, trade union, party); full-time staff in the organization/facility/group; contact person specifically for volunteers or voluntary workers; sufficient opportunities for co-determination and co-decision-making; main content of own activity; elective office; leadership or board function; demands of the activity; always up to the demands of the activity vs. sometimes feeling overwhelmed; to what extent important skills acquired; continuing education opportunities, ever participated in courses or seminars for continuing education; Internet use for activity; importance of various forms of Internet use for activity (obtaining information, building and maintaining networks, drawing attention to organization or group, sharing information, expressing opinions, organizing and handling ongoing work); activity involves regular time commitments; time location for activity; time commitment for activity (frequency); time limit of the activity; reimbursement of financial expenses against proof; regular or occasional use of reimbursement of expenses; type of remuneration; activity is carried out in a similar form by other persons against payment; interest in carrying out this activity professionally; connection of the voluntary activity with the professional activity; importance of the expectations associated with the voluntary activity; carrying out the activity since when; impetus for taking on the activity; own initiative or recruited/ asked; employer supports voluntary commitment; type of support by the employer (e. g. time off for volunteering, use of infrastructure, etc.); assessment of proposals for improving the framework conditions for volunteering by the organizations themselves and by the state and the public.

Analogous query of the structural characteristics of the second voluntary activity.

4. Potential for volunteering among the non-committed: previously engaged in volunteering; volunteering ended x years ago; evaluation of engagement at that time from today´s perspective; personal reasons for ending the activity; problems of the activity such as time expenditure, financial expenditure, tensions and difficulties, etc. as reasons for ending the activity; interest in engaging in volunteering in the future.

5. Contact points, occupation, income, migration, education and value orientations: Awareness of information and contact points on opportunities for volunteering, self-help or voluntary work; information or contact point in the city or region; type of information or contact point; already had contact with an information or contact point; interest in information; questions on occupational activities: if currently unemployed and not employed: regular or occasional exercise of any paid activity; weekly working hours; marginal employment; previous employment if currently without paid activity; occupational status; economic sector; if non-profit/non-profit: Type of institution/association; type of private enterprise (industrial enterprise, service enterprise, craft enterprise, other); number of employees in the enterprise (size of enterprise); assessment of own financial situation; net household income (grouped); monetary donations in the last 12 months; total amount of monetary donations; German nationality; born in Germany, in which part of Germany born (Old Federal Republic, GDR, former German eastern territories); country of birth; region of birth; migration background: Both parents born in Germany; year of moving to Germany; military or civilian service performed; voluntary social year performed; highest educational attainment; value orientations.

Demography: sex; age; year of birth.

Additionally coded: Respondent ID; ID of first and second activity; weighting factors; activity weighting first and second volunteer activity; federal state; New or Old States; employment status graded; schooling (low, middle, high school); employment status, dummy; engagement dummy; activity level; number of areas of engagement; engagement interest of engaged and non-engaged.