Voluntary Work in the Welfare State

First Published in 1998. This is Volume XVII of eighteen of a series on the Sociology of Public Policy, Welfare and Social Work. Voluntary work is undertaken for three main reasons; first, there are jobs to be done which cannot be or at least will not be done by paid personnel; second, the opportunity to give service meets a personal need felt by individual people; and third, voluntary action is a powerful force for social progress. These three reasons provide the explanation and the justif...