Men and volunteering: Gender gaps and trends

Men tend to volunteer less than women—27% vs. 32% in 2023—and the gap persists across age, parental status, employment, and education. But there are a number of potential benefits to broader participation among men:

At the community level, service can strengthen local institutions, yet male participation is declining. In mentoring and advocacy roles, the imbalance can be especially stark. Right now, more than 70% of children on the Big Brothers Big Sisters waitlist are boys because of a lack of Big Brothers. Most youth sports coaches, who are predominantly men, report coaching shortages in their communities, and similar patterns appear elsewhere, with boys and men less likely to be involved in historically important social institutions like Scouts and the YMCA.

At the individual level, volunteering benefits the volunteers themselves. As men report spending more time alone, they’ve become disconnected from their communities. Service offers one potential remedy, with links to greater social connection, positive health outcomes, and better mental health.

Drawing on the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey, we identify where gaps in volunteering are largest, what men do when they volunteer, and how they feel about service.

Demographic trends

The following figures map these differences by age, parental status, employment, and education. Overall, the lowest participation rates are among men who are younger, without children, out-of-work, and without a bachelor’s degree. But representation matters, and programs and the communities they serve can benefit when men of varied ages and backgrounds take part.
 

Figure 3

Volunteering peaks for both men and women in midlife. Women volunteer more than men at every age, and the gap is widest during these years. However nearly 30% of men ages 30-49 report volunteering, the high point for men across the life course.
 

Figure 4

About one-quarter of men without children volunteer but this rate increases to about a third among fathers. Parenthood levels the playing field somewhat, with smaller volunteering gaps between dads and moms (figure 4). Longitudinal evidence shows parents’ volunteering declines around the time of a new baby but rises when the oldest child enters middle and high school, with stronger increases for fathers.

Many avenues for male volunteering run through fatherhood and youth mentorship programs. Organizations like Scouting America, All Pro Dads, and the faith-based Trail Life USA—which has over 17,000 mostly male volunteers—mobilize large numbers of men, especially fathers, to serve their communities. Similarly, parents often become Scout or Cub leaders when their child joins a troop, and about two-thirds of youth sports coaches report coaching because their child plays sports.
 

Figure 5

Overall, employed men are almost 10 percentage points more likely to volunteer than unemployed men, even though a lack of time is often the most cited reason for not volunteering.

Figure 6

We have previously identified several outcomes that diverge sharply by educational attainment including friendship, suicide, earnings, and marriage rates. Volunteering is no exception: men with a bachelor’s degree are more than twice as likely to volunteer as men without one, and the gap is similar among women. This reflects a broader class divide in civic life, with similarly large education gaps in community event attendance and participation in local meetings. Yet, despite large differences in volunteering rates between college and non-college educated men, both groups consider it to be among the most enjoyable and meaningful activities in which they take part.
 

Figure 7

The American Time Use Survey examines how men reported feeling while performing a range of activities, including volunteering. Among men, volunteering ranks second only to participation in religious activities in its perceived meaningfulness. Regardless of education, men also report high levels of happiness while volunteering. It ranks first for those with a bachelor’s and fourth for those without.