Volunteering has not only become an important issue in the United States; it is also receiving much more attention in many other countries across the globe. In many ways, volunteering enjoys greater political and cultural recognition today than it did in past decades. As it happens frequently, however, such greater awareness seems related to the extent to which an issue is seen as problematic, as something beneficial that can no longer be taken for granted. The environment, the family, community or social security are cases in point, and, as we suggest in this paper, so is volunteering, particularly when seen in a cross-national perspective.