Robbie Waters Robichau

Research on cross-sector differences has long demonstrated that workers in public and nonprofit sectors are more prosocially and intrinsically motivated, which in turn shapes their work behavior and outcomes, but little evidence exists on how public service employment is associated with workers’ life quality outside of the organizational context. Using cross-sectional data pooled from the Well-being Module of the American Time Use Survey, we investigate whether sectors of employment can predict workers’ subjective well-being (SWB) beyond the work domain. The results suggest public servants across all levels of government as well as nonprofit organizations experience higher life satisfaction than their for-profit counterparts. However, there are different patterns in daily experiential well-being across levels of government. Further analyses by work and non-work days demonstrate that work itself is likely to be a key factor affecting workers’ daily experience across sectors. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Nonprofit scholars and practitioners alike adhere to a long-held assumption that nonprofit work is, and will remain, inherently meaningful work. The long-term marketization of the nonprofit sector coupled with the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic has undercut this narrative. Our research on meaningful nonprofit work indicates that while many nonprofit workers do find their work meaningful, pay, flexibility, and work/life balance are increasingly important to them. This commentary suggests that nonprofit leaders can no longer presume that workers motivated by prosocial values will seek out and stay with nonprofit work, satisfied with the “psychic income” that comes from doing good work. Nonprofits must be managed and led differently such that they center workers’ contemporary needs and desires. Organizational and public policy initiatives around pay equity and flexible work can support such a transition for the nonprofit sector.