Britain Reports Big Jump in Number of Nonprofit Employees

The latest statistics from the National Council for Voluntary Organizations, in England, reveal significant growth in the number of people employed by nonprofit groups in Britain over the past decade, reports the Financial Times.

The number of charity workers rose 26 percent between 1996 and 2005, to 611,000. That compares to an 11-percent and 14-percent rise in employment for businesses and governments, respectively, the group reported.

The growth in nonprofit employment may be driven by an increased reliance by governments on charities to provide social services. The nonprofit council that compiled the statistics says that government contracts accounted for 62 percent of nonprofit groups’ income in 2001-2, compared with 48 percent in 2004-5.

While these numbers appear to paint an optimistic portrait of Britain’s nonprofit groups, some charities say the gains are not evenly distributed. Barbara Magowan, project manager at Kairos Women Working Together, a small organization that helps prostitutes, says, “The majority of funding goes to larger, single-issue charities.”

Indeed, while the council reports that the total income of nonprofit groups rose by about $1.6-billion during 2004-05, revenues of charities that brought in less than $20-million per year fell by about $1.4-billion.

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