Characteristics of formal and informal volunteering among young ethnic
Hungarians aged 15-29 living in the region beyond the border in 2020
Anna Mária Bartal – Hajnalka Fényes
Hungarians aged 15-29 living in the region beyond the border in 2020
Abstract
Our study is the first analysis that attempts to describe the characteristics of formal and informal volunteers and the factors influencing them on a representative sample of ethnic Hungarian youth aged 15-29 years living in the historic region of Upper Hungary (in Slovakia), Transylvania (in Romania), Vojvodina (in Serbia), Transcarpathia (in Ukraine). The detailed analyses by regions were conducted to answer three main questions. First, to what extent does the distribution of formal and informal volunteers among young volunteers living in the region beyond the border follow the trends recognised in their own country. Second, based on the assumptions of the academic literature analysis whether can it be confirmed that there is a higher frequency of people of higher socio-economic status and with religious beliefs among young formal volunteers living in region beyond the border. Considering formal and informal active young volunteers as bearers of community resources and forces for community organisation, our third research question was to identify which age groups constitute the base of formal volunteers.
Our analysis was conducted in the framework of Hungarian Youth Survey 2020 data collection abroad and along the lines of its questions on active volunteering and civic organisational attachment, by using bivariate analysis and logistic regression models.
The research results indicated that the distribution trends of formal and informal volunteers observed in their own country was only characteristic for young ethnic Hungarian in the historic region of Upper Hungary (in Slovakia). In other regions, the proportion of formal volunteers was much higher among ethnic Hungarian youth, indicating a strong organisational commitment of young volunteers and their potential to be a significant resource for youth organisations. In line with the academic literature, our data also showed that formal volunteers tended to be recruited from higher socio-economic status groups, albeit with smaller differences between the regions studied. Religiousness was the most likely to increase the chances of young people from Transcarpathia (in Ukraine) volunteering formally. In general, the age base of formal volunteers is made up of young people aged 19-24 years old, mainly living in cities, who have completed tertiary education, while the informal volunteers are mainly young people aged 25-29. In this respect, the young volunteers from Transylvania (in Romania) showed a greater variation.
In line with the academic literature, we have found that in beyond border regions formal and informal volunteering of young ethnic Hungarians complement each other and that informal volunteers are to be seen as a potential that can be accessed and utilised by youth organisations via good volunteer management.
Keywords: active volunteers, formal and informal volunteers, young ethnic Hungarians, historic region of Upper Hungary (in Slovakia), Transylvania (in Romania), Vojvodina (in Serbia), Transcarpathia (in Ukraine)