Congratulations to SCOOP PhD researcher Maikel Meijeren on his new article!
In “Hop in and Drop Out: How are Changes in the Life Course Related to Changes in Volunteering for Humanitarian Organizations?”, published in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Maikel and his co-authors (including SCOOP colleague Peer Scheepers) examine to what extent an individual’s life changes affect their likelihood of getting involved in humanitarian volunteering. Unexpectedly, they found that although there were large fluctuations in the inflow and outflow of volunteers over a thirteen-year period (2009-2022), most life course changes do not (directly) relate to a person’s volunteering for a humanitarian cause. Maikel and his collaborators hypothesize that variations in the inflow and outflow of volunteers relate to fluctuations in need. In 2015, for example, the year of the refugee crisis, the amount of volunteers was higher. But in the years following, there was a higher number of volunteers quitting.
You can read the scientific article here. 
Maikel has also been interviewed in a recent news article in de Gelderlander, “Bestaat onze maatschappij uit te veel ego’s of geven we nog om elkaar? ‘Mensen willen wel helpen, maar alleen tijdelijk’.” In the interview, he explains why there has been a decrease in volunteering: firstly, because of the secularisation of society; and secondly, because younger generations have different views on volunteering. Maikel also explains that, these days, people do want to help, but usually only temporarily and often only when there's a sense of emergency. Often, he describes, the strongest motivator for volunteering is empathy.
You can read the article in de Gelderlander here.
