6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
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of full-time employees. Volunteers can be found primarily <strong>in</strong> n<strong>on</strong>-profit organisati<strong>on</strong>s, but they<br />
also play a role for public and semi-public providers. Their tasks are often at the functi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
level, e.g. as tra<strong>in</strong>ers or mentors, but sometimes they also <strong>in</strong>clude adm<strong>in</strong>istrative and<br />
organisati<strong>on</strong>al aspects.<br />
Table 45: <strong>Youth</strong> workers <strong>in</strong> Dutch municipalities<br />
Total Full-time % Part-time % Volunteers %<br />
<strong>Youth</strong> workers 570 15 3% 32 6% 523 92%<br />
The full- and part-time employees, <strong>in</strong> c<strong>on</strong>trast, work primarily for public and semi-public<br />
providers, but sometimes also <strong>in</strong> larger sports associati<strong>on</strong>s. Their tasks cover all k<strong>in</strong>ds of<br />
activities, but most often c<strong>on</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> some adm<strong>in</strong>istrative and organisati<strong>on</strong>al elements. The<br />
share of qualified youth workers, be it with a higher educati<strong>on</strong> degree or a professi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
school certificate, is highest am<strong>on</strong>g public and semi-public providers. The share of tra<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
volunteers, however, is not so much c<strong>on</strong>nected to the type of provider but rather to the<br />
activity the volunteers are <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong>. Generally speak<strong>in</strong>g, demand<strong>in</strong>g activities also call for<br />
a tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g of the volunteers <strong>in</strong>volved. Examples of such demand<strong>in</strong>g activities are exposure to<br />
young people <strong>in</strong> problematic situati<strong>on</strong>s, tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g for competitive athletes, and work at parties<br />
where many people get drunk and become abusive. Yet at the same time it should also be<br />
menti<strong>on</strong>ed that not all untra<strong>in</strong>ed volunteers lack qualificati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> the field of youth work.<br />
Several participants <strong>in</strong> this study reported that the volunteers <strong>in</strong> their organisati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong>cluded<br />
tra<strong>in</strong>ees and students of social work.<br />
The ratio of female to male youth workers is balanced, but there are more female part-time<br />
youth workers than male.<br />
Table 46: Ratio of female to male youth workers <strong>in</strong> Dutch municipalities<br />
Total Female % Male %<br />
Full-time 15 7 47% 8 53%<br />
Part-time 32 20 63% 12 38%<br />
Volunteers 523 271 52% 252 48%<br />
C<strong>on</strong>cern<strong>in</strong>g the participants <strong>in</strong> youth work activities, f<strong>in</strong>ally, it should <strong>on</strong>ce aga<strong>in</strong> be stressed<br />
that they are not adequately captured with the def<strong>in</strong>iti<strong>on</strong> of youth used <strong>in</strong> this project. In the<br />
literature review, it was reported that the actual target group of Dutch youth work are pers<strong>on</strong>s<br />
between 10 and 23 years of age. The secti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> nati<strong>on</strong>al statistics showed that most<br />
municipalities do not even serve this entire age span but rather c<strong>on</strong>centrate <strong>on</strong> pers<strong>on</strong>s<br />
between 12 and 16 years of age. With the age groups given for this project, <strong>on</strong>e cannot<br />
make such f<strong>in</strong>e dist<strong>in</strong>cti<strong>on</strong>s, but it nevertheless becomes obvious that pers<strong>on</strong>s aged 20 and<br />
older are a marg<strong>in</strong>al group <strong>in</strong> youth work.<br />
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