Finding 6: Volunteering

Students from low-income families who engage in the arts at school are twice as likely to volunteer

CASE found in their 2015 systematic review of relevant literature that Volunteering and caring are both developed by arts engagement (Taylor et al, 2015: p.84).

In the US the NELS:88 survey tracked 12,000 participants through to age 26. Looking specifically at the outcomes of students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, at the age of 26 they found that 24.3% of those who had been engaged in the arts at school were volunteering compared to 10.8% of non-engaged students (Catterall, 2009).

In addition, in both high-and low-SES groups, young adults who had arts-rich experiences in high school were more likely than other young adults to have volunteered recently (Catterall, 2012: p.19). 

 

Catterall, James S. Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Art (Los Angeles: I-Group Books, 2009) 

Catterall, James S., Dumais, Susan A. and Hampden-Thompson, Gillian. The arts and achievements in at-risk youth: findings from longitudinal studies (Washington: National Endowment for the Arts, 2012) Available at: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/ files/Arts-At-Risk-Youth.pdf 

Taylor, Peter, Davies, Larissa, Wells, Peter, Gilbertson, Jan and Tayleur, William. A review of the Social Impacts of Culture and Sport (London: CASE, 2015)