Conceptualising employment and volunteering as two distinct forms of
social inclusion, Susanne Strauß analyses their interrelations in
Germany and Great Britain. On the basis of household panel data, she
answers questions such as: Does job loss lead people to give up their
volunteer work? Or do people who have lost their job keep up their
volunteering activities to use them as an alternative source of social
recognition? Does volunteering help with finding a new job? By comparing
the situation in two different countries, the author stresses that
differences in labour market institutions lead to distinct answers.
Moreover, the study points to variations with respect to gender,
education and the type of volunteering organizations.