Making volunteer work visible: supplementary measures of work in labor force statistics

Under the current definitions of labor force status, one person can be working in a job (in retail sales, for example) and be counted as employed because he or she is being paid, while another person can be working in a nearly identical job (such as in retail sales for a charity organizations consignment shop) and be counted as not in the labor force because he or she is not receiving pay. [1]-U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics To understand how the economy is functioning and changing over time requires measuring and valuing all productive unpriced labor time. According to BLS statistics, in 2015, among the U.S. civilian population ages 16 and over, 63 million people, or 25 percent, volunteered. Pho estimates the value of volunteer work at around 1 percent of gross domestic product; we show how an alternative labor force participation rate increases-and quite substantially for the older population-when volunteers who are currently classified as not in the labor force are counted as part of the labor force.