Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss volunteers prefer culture and charity groups to sports clubs

Swiss red cross volunteers
Volunteer work in cultural and charitable associations is on the rise. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Community work continues to play a key role in Swiss society, but its focus has changed over the past 20 years, a study has found. 

Political interest groups, sports clubs and public service organisations appear to have become less attractive to volunteers. 

Volunteer activities for charitable and cultural organisations, as well as hobby clubs and leisure groups, have won ground, according to a statement by the Swiss Society for the Common GoodExternal link

Some 62% of respondents said they were regularly engaged in unpaid work mostly as members of an organisation. In a first such survey in 2007 was 52%.  

Informal volunteer work mostly consisted of care work for family members and friends, as well as helping neighbours. 

Women do unpaid work more often than men. Many of the volunteers are people who have retired from their professional life. 

Among the main motivation for the volunteers are a personal challenge, a feeling of responsibility and an interesting activity, the study found. 

The survey conducted in 2019, polled more than 5,000 Swiss residents over the age of 15. 

News

Two Rothornbahn gondolas cross each other on Lenzerheide on Friday, April 3, 2009.

More

Swiss cable car activity rose in winter 2023-2024

This content was published on In the winter season up to April 2024, railway and cable car operators ferried 3% more visitors compared to the previous winter, and 5% more than the five-year average.

Read more: Swiss cable car activity rose in winter 2023-2024
flooding Rhine

More

Rhine flooding: Swiss to invest CHF1 billion with Austria

This content was published on As part of an international agreement with Austria, the Swiss government wants to pump CHF1 billion ($1.1 billion) into flood protection measures along the Rhine over the next three decades.

Read more: Rhine flooding: Swiss to invest CHF1 billion with Austria

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR