Civic Engagement and Volunteering
Girls and boys participate in civic engagement activities and volunteering in different ways, venues, and times throughout their adolescence and young adulthood. From what the following statistics and trends indicate, there is much opportunity for youth development, civic, political, and educational organizations to positively affect how youth contribute to society as they grow older.
Statistics
• For girls ages 11-12, 73% reported improving the world around them as their favorite activity (i.e., activities related to the environment or helping others). (The Girl Scout Research Institute, The Ten Emerging Truths: New Directions for Girls 11-17 (2002))
• Girls ages 11-17 participate in student government at markedly increasing levels: 5% of girls ages 11-13; 12% of girls ages 13-15; and 20% of girls ages 16-17. (The Girl Scout Research Institute, The Ten Emerging Truths: New Directions for Girls 11-17 (2002))
• More young women aged 15 to 25 participate in the following activities than young men: raising money for charity (27% for women vs. 22% for men); regular volunteering for non-political groups (21% vs. 16%); active group membership (22% vs. 18%); membership in political groups (17% vs. 15%); and, participating in a run/walk/ride for charity (20% vs. 15%). (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, The Civic and Political Health of a Nation, 2006)
• Less young women aged 15 to 25 participate in the following activities than young men: regular voting (ages 20 to 25) (25% for women vs. 28% for men); persuading others to vote (31% vs. 39%); donating money for a political campaign (5% vs. 9%); and, regular volunteering for a political group (1.3% vs. 2.4%) (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, The Civic and Political Health of a Nation, 2006)
• In the 2004 election, 55% of females ages 18-24 reported registering to vote, compared with 48% of males the same age. Similarly, 45% of females reported actually voting, compared with 39% of males. (ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Youth Voting, 2006)
• Voter turnout rates among voters ages 18-29 declined: women (27% in 1994 versus 24% in 2002) and men (25% in 1994 versus 21% in 2002). (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, Quick Facts about Young Voters: 2006)
• From 1990 to 2000, consistent young volunteers were more likely to be female (14 percent) than male (11 percent). They were also more likely to be from higher SES households. (National Center for Education Statistics, Volunteer Service by Young People from High School through Early Adulthood, 2003)
• From 1990 to 2000, females (50%) were more likely than males (38%) to volunteer in high school, but no differences were detected between the sexes two years out of high school (38% for males and 39% for females). Male volunteering declined further to 29% by the eighth year after scheduled high school graduation; no change was detected in female volunteering (37%). (National Center for Education Statistics, Volunteer Service by Young People from High School through Early Adulthood, 2003)
• As of 2003, female college graduates were more likely than their male counterparts to have volunteered in the past year (50% vs. 43%). Among those who had volunteered, women were more likely than men to have served in educational or religious institutions, while men were more likely than women to have done other volunteer work with children or to have participated in poverty or neighborhood improvement projects. (National Center for Education Statistics, Where Are They Now? A Description of 1992–93 Bachelor's Degree Recipients 10 Years Later, 2006)
• College students follow the national trend in volunteering, with females (33%) volunteering at a higher rate than males (26.8%). Both male and female college students were more likely to volunteer for an educational or youth services organization than any other type of organization: 33.6% of male college students, and 30.2% of female college students volunteered at an educational or youth services organization. With a little over 22% of both male and female college students, religious organizations remained the second most popular place for volunteering among both genders. (Corporation for National and Community Service, College Students Helping America, 2006)
