Scotland's People Annual report: Results from 2009 Scottish Household Survey

12 Volunteering

Introduction and Context

The Scottish Government is determined that volunteers should have full scope to contribute to Scottish life and is evaluating ways in which it can promote this ethos. Part of this policy aim is to help build individuals skills and confidence through volunteering. Evidence has suggested that some people, in particular those from disadvantaged groups, are under-represented in volunteering.

The Scottish Household Survey ( SHS) includes a range of questions on volunteering, the data from which can be used to help guide the promotion of the Scottish Government's volunteer ethos. The questions gather information on the prevalence and frequency of volunteering, the type of organisations and activities for which individuals give up time, and the reasons for, and for not, volunteering.

The results of those questions are presented in this chapter. Firstly, differences in the percentage of those giving up time to provide unpaid help are examined by gender, current economic situation, area deprivation and net household income. Further details on the volunteering activities are then presented. This includes the types of organisations for which volunteering is undertaken and the types of activities carried out, as well as the hours spent in the previous month volunteering.

Providing Unpaid Help to organisations and Individuals

Prevalence of providing unpaid help

As Table 12.1 shows, about three-in-ten adults (28%) have provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months. Broadly similar percentages of men and women overall volunteer (26% of men and 30% of women), and this is also true for most age groups (Figure 12.1). The biggest difference between males and females is within the 16 to 24 age group, where males (29%) are more likely to volunteer than females (21%).

Table 12.1: Whether provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months by gender

Column percentages, 2009 data

Adults	Male	Female	All
Yes	26	30	28
No	74	70	72
Total	100	100	100
Base	2,903	3,881	6,784

This question is only asked of half the sample

Around a third of women aged 35 to 74 provided unpaid help to organisations in 2009. In general, for most age groups, women volunteered more than men. Volunteering is lower among men aged 25 to 34 compared to some of the other age groups; just over one fifth (21%) of those aged 25 to 34 reported volunteering compared to closer to three-in-ten in other age groups under the age of 75. After the age of 74, providing unpaid help declines; 19% of men and 18% of women aged 75 and over has provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months.

Figure 12.1: Percentage providing unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months by age within gender

2009 data, Adults (minimum base: 255)

There is also variation in volunteering according to the current economic situation of individuals (Table 12.2). Unpaid help is most likely to be provided by those who are self-employed (37%) and those in higher or further education (36%). Adults who are permanently sick or disabled or are unemployed are less likely to provide unpaid help; 14% of the former and 16% of the latter do so. These results appear to corroborate to some extent existing knowledge about disadvantaged groups volunteering less than others.

Table 12.2: Whether provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months by current economic situation

Column percentages, 2009 data

Adults	Self -employed	Full-time employ-ment	Part-time employ-ment	Looking after home / family	Perma-nently retired from work	Unem-ployed and seeking work	At School	Higher / further education	Perma-nently sick or disabled	Unable to work due to short-term illness	All
Yes	37	28	32	26	27	16	*	36	14	*	28
No	63	72	68	74	73	84	*	64	86	*	72
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	*	100	100	*	100
Base	353	2,176	693	394	2,089	304	62	236	379	65	6,784

This question is only asked of half the sample.

Area level deprivation is another way of identifying disadvantaged adults. ⁷² As Table 12.3 shows, prevalence of providing unpaid help is much lower for those in the most deprived areas (15%) than in the rest of Scotland (31%), providing further confirmation of the under-representation of disadvantaged groups in volunteering.

Table 12.3: Whether provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Column percentages, 2009 data

Adults	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Yes	15	31	28
No	85	69	72
Total	100	100	100
Base	1,121	5,659	6,780

This question is only asked of half the sample.

It can also be seen that the level of net annual household income plays a role in differences in volunteering rates, as the percentage of adults volunteering rises with income. Adults in households having an income of up to £15,000 are less likely to volunteer than those in other income groups, with around one fifth of adults from lower income households volunteer. By contrast, almost twice that proportion of those with a household income of more than £40,000 have provided unpaid help in the last 12 months (40%). Older people are more likely to have lower household incomes, therefore the pattern evident in Table 12.4 will in part reflect the fact that people aged 75 and over are also the least likely to provide unpaid help.

Table 12.4: Whether provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months by net annual household income

Column percentages, 2009 data

Adults	£0 - £6,000	£6,001 - £10,000	£10,001 - £15,000	£15,001 - £20,000	£20,001 - £25,000	£25,001 - £30,000	£30,001 - £40,000	£40,001+	All
Yes	19	19	20	26	27	33	34	40	28
No	81	81	80	74	73	67	66	60	72
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	360	948	1,313	984	736	588	820	772	6,521

This question is only asked of half the sample.

Household income in the SHS is that of the highest income householder and their partner only. Includes all adults for whom household income is known or has been imputed. Excludes refusals/don't know responses.

Types of unpaid help provided

In this section the types of organisations for which help is provided and the types of activities undertaken is explored. The total number of hours provided in the last four weeks is also identified. Differences in all of these are examined by area deprivation.

The types of organisations for which adults provide unpaid help are examined in Table 12.5, ranked in descending order for Scotland as a whole. Working with organisations connected to children, either through schools (22%) or other youth and children's organisations (22%) are the most common form of volunteering. The next most common is religion-based organisations, where 17% have provided unpaid help to such organisations.

Table 12.5: Types of organisations or groups for which adults provided help for in the last 12 months by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Percentages, 2009 data

Adults who did voluntary work in the last 12 months	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Children's activities associated with schools	23	21	22
Youth/children	15	23	22
Health, disability and social welfare	22	17	18
Religion	13	17	17
Local community or neighbourhood groups	11	15	15
Sport/exercise (coaching or organising)	9	15	15
Hobbies/recreation/arts/social clubs	6	15	14
The elderly	12	12	12
The environment, animals	7	7	7
Education for adults	3	4	4
Citizens groups	1	4	4
Safety, first aid	4	3	3
Justice and human rights	2	3	3
Politics	4	2	2
Trade union activities	2	1	1
None of these	6	4	4
Base	173	1,740	1,913

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses were allowed.

This question is only asked of half the sample.

There is some apparent variation by deprivation level, although given the relatively small sample size of the 15% most deprived areas, most of these differences could have occurred by chance. The largest differences, which are significant, are found in the percentage providing help to organisations involved in hobbies/recreation/arts/social clubs (6% in deprived areas, compared to 15% in the rest of Scotland), sport or exercise (9% in deprived areas compared to 15% in the rest of Scotland) and those involved with youth/children (15% in deprived areas compared to 23% in the rest of Scotland).

Table 12.6 shows the types of organisations for which adults provide unpaid help examined by age. Volunteering for organisations connected with children through youth and children's organisations, was more common among adults aged between 16 and 44 than those aged 44 and over (40% of adults aged 16 to 24 volunteer through youth and children's organisations). Volunteering through sport also showed some differences by age, with 30% of adults aged 16 to 24 volunteering in sports compared to at most 16% across the other age groups. On the other hand, volunteering for religious organisations and organisations dealing with the elderly people tended to increase as adults get older. Close to half (44%) of those adults aged 75 and over who volunteer did so with religious organisations.

Table 12.6: Types of organisations or groups for which adults provided help for in the last 12 months by age

Percentages, 2009 data

Adults who did voluntary work in the last 12 months	16 to 24	25 to 34	35 to 44	45 to 59	60 to 74	75 plus	All
Children's activities associated with schools	19	25	38	21	10	4	22
Youth/children	40	26	29	19	11	3	22
Health, disability and social welfare	14	17	14	21	19	19	18
Religion	10	12	11	14	26	44	17
Local community or neighbourhood groups	6	13	16	19	15	13	15
Sport/exercise (coaching or organising)	30	14	16	12	10	6	15
Hobbies/recreation/arts/social clubs	18	13	13	12	17	10	14
The elderly	8	6	7	16	18	20	12
The environment, animals	5	7	6	11	5	0	7
Education for adults	3	4	4	4	4	2	4
Citizens groups	2	2	3	2	6	7	4
Safety, first aid	8	2	4	3	1	3	3
Justice and human rights	2	6	1	4	3	-	3
Politics	6	1	1	3	2	2	3
Trade union activities	2	0	1	2	1	-	1
None of these	4	3	3	6	4	8	4
Base	145	247	375	504	478	165	1,914

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses were allowed.

This question is only asked of half the sample.

In Table 12.7 the types of unpaid activity adults have undertaken are also explored, shown in descending order for Scotland as a whole. Typically, those volunteering provide general help (40% of adults volunteering in Scotland) as well as undertaking more specific roles. Over a third (35%) of adults raise money whilst 27% help to organise or run events or activities. Just over a quarter (26%) say they do 'whatever is required'.

When considering differences caused by deprivation it is important to note that for some types of activities the percentage of those volunteering from the most deprived areas is higher than that of the rest of Scotland. This is most evident in those providing direct services such as meals on wheels or doing odd jobs (9% in the 15% most deprived areas of Scotland, 7% in Scotland as a whole) and in campaigning (9% as against 6%). Some of these differences are small but they are still worth noting, especially as some of these involve the types of roles associated with the skills and confidence building policy aims of volunteering.

Table 12.7: Types of unpaid activity adults have undertaken in the last 12 months by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Percentages, 2009 data

Adults who did voluntary work in the last 12 months	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Generally helping out	36	40	40
Raising money	33	35	35
Helping to organize or run events or activities	19	28	27
Doing whatever is required	30	25	26
Committee work	11	21	20
Providing advice or assistance to others	15	15	15
Education or training or coaching	10	16	15
Office work or administration	8	12	12
Visiting, buddying or befriending people	8	7	7
Providing transport or driving	5	7	7
Managing, organising or co-ordinating other unpaid helpers	7	7	7
Providing direct services ( e.g. meals on wheels, doing odd jobs	9	7	7
Campaigning	9	6	6
Counselling	3	4	4
Representing others	3	4	4
IT Support	2	3	3
Advocacy	1	2	2
None	0	1	1
Base	162	1,701	1,863

Columns may add to more than 100% since multiple responses were allowed.

This question is only asked of half the sample.

Table 12.8 shows the number of hours of unpaid work provided in the last four weeks. Respondents were asked the specific number of hours for which they provided unpaid help and this was aggregated up to provide the categories presented in this report. Over seven-in-ten (73%) across the whole of Scotland provided unpaid help for 10 hours or less; the majority of these provided help for between one and 5 hours (51%). Over two and a half hours per week of unpaid help were provided on average across the four weeks. This does not vary greatly according to deprivation level

Table 12.8: Total number of hours of unpaid work provided in the last four weeks by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Column percentages, 2009 data

Adults who did voluntary work in the last 12 months	15% most deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Less than an hour	4	4	4
Between 1 and 5 hours	56	51	51
6 to 10 hours	13	18	18
11 to 15 hours	7	8	8
16 to 20 hours	7	7	7
21 to 35 hours	5	4	4
36 hours or more	7	7	7
Don't know	1	1	1
Total	100	100	100
Base	162	1,701	1,863

This question is only asked of half the sample.

Table 12.9 shows the number of hours of unpaid work provided by adults in the last four weeks broken down by the types of activities undertaken in the past 12 months. Among those adults who spent up to 5 hours volunteering in the last four weeks, most common activities undertaken over the previous year included raising money (54%) and generally helping out (47%). Adults who spent 36 hours or more volunteering in the last four weeks were more likely to have been involved in managing, organising or coordinating other unpaid helpers over the past 12 months (24%).

Table 12.9: Types of unpaid activity adults have undertaken in the last 12 months by total number of hours of unpaid work provided in the last four weeks

Row percentages, 2009 data

Adults who did voluntary work in the last 12 months	Up to 5 hours	6 to 10 hours	11 to 15 hours	16 to 20 hours	21 to 35 hours	36 hours or more	Total	Base
Generally helping out	47	16	12	8	5	8	100	746
Raising money	54	15	7	5	4	8	100	643
Helping to organize or run events or activities	37	23	13	9	6	8	100	505
Doing whatever is required	39	17	12	10	6	12	100	474
Committee work	40	20	12	9	4	12	100	399
Providing advice or assistance to others	34	18	10	12	9	12	100	288
Education or training or coaching	36	24	9	10	7	11	100	250
Office work or administration	32	18	12	14	6	12	100	234
Visiting, buddying or befriending people	29	24	10	10	6	14	100	147
Providing transport or driving	32	16	20	6	9	11	100	123
Managing, organising or co-ordinating other unpaid helpers	19	18	12	12	9	24	100	123
Providing direct services ( e.g. meals on wheels, doing odd jobs	37	17	14	12	5	12	100	137
Campaigning	37	22	6	12	4	17	100	101
Counselling	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	80
Representing others	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	73
All	51	18	8	7	4	7	100	1,864

Rows may add to more than 100% since multiple responses were allowed.

This question is only asked of half the sample.