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 justification for the existence of voluntary work.

The purpose of this book is to examine the present position and future role of voluntary work in the United Kingdom and to analyse its value to the individual and to the community. Its limitations as well as its achievements will be considered and criticism as well as praise will be recorded.