 Stipend-paid volunteers in South Africa: A euphemism for low-paid work?Kirsty Hunter and Eleanor Ross Development Southern Africa, 2013, vol. 30, issue 6, 743-759 Abstract: Given the high unemployment rates in South Africa, the government has introduced policies to assist individuals to enter the job market, including stipend-paid volunteering. This research sought the views of stipend-paid volunteers and managers from four Johannesburg-based non-governmental organisations. The aims were to investigate whether stipend-paid volunteering was more like low-paid work than volunteering, the motivations for stipend-paid volunteering, the relationship between livelihood strategies and stipend volunteering, and the challenges and opportunities facing stipend-paid volunteers. It emerged that stipend-paid volunteers were initially motivated by extrinsic factors, such as the stipend, but later their volunteerism was sustained by intrinsic motivations, such as their community service orientation. While stipend-paid volunteering provided opportunities for training and experience, the work also presented challenges in terms of emotional stress, low remuneration and minimal support. Findings suggest that stipend-paid volunteerism would seem to be a euphemism for low-paid work. Date: 2013 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:deveza:v:30:y:2013:i:6:p:743-759 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2013.860014 Access Statistics for this article Development Southern Africa is currently edited by Marie Kirsten More articles in Development Southern Africa from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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