We study the wellbeing benefits from volunteering in England's National Health Service (NHS) Volunteer Responders programme, which was set up in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using combined survey and administrative data, we exploit the oversubscription of volunteers to the programme and the random allocation of tasks via a smartphone app to estimate causal wellbeing returns. Volunteers show significantly stronger personal wellbeing and feelings of belongingness and social connectedness to their local area. Welfare analyses suggest that the benefits of the programme exceeded its costs by a multiple. We are the first to study the welfare effects of such a large-scale, nationwide volunteering programme. Our findings advance our understanding of the ways in which pro-social behaviour can improve personal wellbeing as well as social welfare.

---

31 May 2021     Paper Number CEPDP1772

Download PDF - Happy to help: welfare effects of a nationwide volunteering programme

Download appendix

Download Press Release

This CEP discussion paper is published under the centre's Community Wellbeing programme.