Volunteering Isn't Actually Making You Happy

Go to a therapist? They'll suggest volunteering. Want to add meaning to your life? Why not try volunteering? Your ex says you're a narcissistic arsehole incapable of feeling? Volunteering! Dragging yourself down to the nearest RSPCA to scrape some cat shit from a cage is the oldest trick in the book for improving your mental health and raising your happiness. Except maybe, after all that, it's not.

A new study suggests that visiting the old people's home isn't benefiting the person you really wanted it to: you.

Researchers at the Uni of Southampton looked at data from the British Household Panel Survey, which sampled adults living in 5,000 households every year from 1991 to 2008. The questionnaires measured mental health and emotional wellbeing and compared it to how often people volunteered.

They found that those who volunteered regularly scored an average of six percent higher on wellbeing tests – great news, right? But when they analysed the data, found that volunteering had no impact at all for young people. The results were skewed because from the age of 40, mental health and wellbeing improved significantly for those volunteering, peaking at the age of 76 to 80, when there was 12 percent boost to mental health.

If this is true, plenty of do-gooders right now are silently admitting to themselves that volunteering has done fuck-all but add more stress to their week. The researchers speculated that one reason for these results may be that volunteering when you're young may just be seen as another chore or obligation. But when you're older, it becomes more personal or meaningful. They suggest that it may be beneficial to those who have been made redundant or have retired and have a more isolated life.

Go on then, call up Friends of the Elderly. Tell them you're not coming this week, and then resign yourself to being a narcissistic arsehole until you're in your 40s at least.

More on volunteering:

The Strange, Tragic Things You Hear Volunteering At a Crisis Hotline

How I Became a Volunteer Refugee Grave Digger

How to Make Friends When You're Young and Broke