The nature of the relationship between the time people spend on paid work and volunteering remains debated in the social sciences. Time constraint theory suggests a negative relationship because people can allocate only as much time to volunteering as their work responsibilities permit. However, social integration theory suggests a more complex inverse U-shaped relationship because paid work not only limits people’s free time but also plays a key role in their social integration. Departing from these competing theories, this study uses two-wave panel data from Denmark to examine the relationship between hours of paid work and volunteering. In support of time constraint theory, the results suggest that hours of paid work have a significant negative effect on the total number of hours that people spend volunteering, not mainly because paid work hours affect people’s propensity to volunteer but because they affect the number of hours that volunteers contribute.

人们花在有偿工作上的时间与志愿服务之间的关系的性质在社会科学中仍存在争议。时间限制理论提出了一种消极关系，因为人们只能在工作职责允许的范围内分配志愿服务时间。但是，社会融合理论提出了一种更为复杂的倒U型关系，因为带薪工作不仅限制了人们的闲暇时间，而且在他们的社会融合中起着关键作用。与这些竞争理论不同，本研究使用丹麦的两波面板数据来检验有偿工作时间与志愿服务之间的关系。为了支持时间限制理论，研究结果表明，带薪工作时间对人们花在志愿服务上的总工作时间有很大的负面影响，