government volunteering trends 2001- 2010

Who volunteers?Volunteering trends based on government data: 2001-2010

A briefing from nfpSynergy February 2011

Telephone: (020) 7426 8888e-mail: [email protected] Web: www.nfpsynergy.net

2

Overview of definitions from Citizenship surveys

Citizenship definitions of volunteering:

Informal volunteering- Covers unpaid help that was given to otherpeople, apart from any help given through a group, club or organisation. This could be help for a friend, neighbour or someone else but not a relative.

Formal Volunteering- covers volunteering within official groups, clubs or organisations.

There is a new focus in citizenship surveys on regular (at least once a month) volunteering and civic participation.

The summary slide:all volunteering 2001-2010

4

Participation in community and voluntary activities, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007/08, 2008/09 & 2009/10At least once a month

3%

34%

27%

47%

3%

29%

42%

25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Civic participation Informal volunteering Formal volunteering All volunteering

2001

2003

2005

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

Base: 10,000 adults 16+, England & Wales. Source: Citizenship Survey, April-Sep 10, National Statistics

5

Participation in community and voluntary activities, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007/08, 2008/09 & 2010At least once in the last 12 months

67%

39%

74%

34%

54%

66%

38% 40%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Civic participation Informal volunteering Formal volunteering All volunteering

2001200320052007/0820092010


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Overall trends in volunteering

• Levels of ‘once a month’ volunteering; formal, informal and civic participation have all fallen since 2005 and have fallen each year.

• Trends in ‘once in the last 12 months’ formal volunteering, informal volunteering and civic participation have all declined slightly in the last two years.

• Overall the downward trend in the level of volunteering is disappointing: particularly give the levels of government and third sector investment in increasing volunteering

Volunteering ‘at least once a month’ amongst excluded groups and ethnic minorities

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Participation in voluntary activities at least once a month by groups at risk of social exclusionInformal volunteering

34% 33%

26%31% 31%

36%

29%33%

29%25%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

All adults LTLI/Disability No qualifications Minority ethnicgroups

Groups at risk ofsocial exclusion

2001200320052007/082008/092009/10


NB – not all data available for these specialised groups in 2009/10

9

Participation in voluntary activities at least once a month by groups at risk of social exclusionFormal volunteering

27%

16%

25%21%

14%

20%25%

18%23%

21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%



2001200320052007/082008/092009/10



10

Participation in voluntary activities at least once a month by groups at risk of social exclusionAny volunteering

47%44%

34%

42% 41% 41%42%40%

34%

42%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%



2001200320052007/082008/092009/10



11

Trends in volunteering amongst priority and disadvantaged groups• Its pretty hard to escape the conclusion that volunteering amongst

these groups has not increased much since 2001. • For many groups there was an increase between 2001 and 2003

and also a drop between 2005 and 2007. The net result is that volunteering in these groups, is now at the same level, or below where it was in 2001.

• All socially excluded groups show lower levels of volunteering and civic participation than the population as a whole and these levels are relatively flat.

• Those with no qualifications might benefit most from the skills learned through volunteering but are the least likely socially excluded group to volunteer.

• However for many of these groups 2009/10 data has not yet become available

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Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once a month prior to interview by ethnicity, 2007/08 (no newer data available)Civic Participation

3%1%

4%2% 2% 2%

5% 5%

2% 3% 3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

All adults Chinese/Other Mixed race African Caribbean All Black Bangladeshi Pakistani Indian All Asian White

Civic participation


13

Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once a month prior to interview by ethnicity, 2009/10Informal volunteering

29%

17%

30% 31%

20%

23% 23% 23%

30%31%32%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

All Adults Chinese/Other Mixed race African Caribbean All Black Bangladeshi Pakistani Indian All Asian White

Informalvolunteering


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Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once a month prior to interview by ethnicity, 2009/10Formal volunteering

25% 25% 25%

16%15%

16% 16%

26%25%25%25%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

All Adults Chinese/Other Mixed race African Caribbean All Black Bangladeshi Pakistani Indian All Asian White

Formal volunteering


15

Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once a month prior to interview by ethnicity, 2007/08 – no newer data availableAll volunteering

35%

52%

46%49% 48%

32%34%

37% 36%

49%48%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

All Adults

Chinese/OtherMixed race

African CaribbeanAll Black

BangladeshiPakistani

IndianAll Asian White

All volunteering


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Trends in volunteering amongst ethnic minorities:

• Volunteering levels are lowest among Asian groups, particularly Bangladeshi people who show the lowest level of informal volunteering

• White and Black and mixed race ethnic groups show the highest levels of volunteering

Volunteering once a month – by gender

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Participation in voluntary activities at least once a month prior to interview by gender, 2008/09

31%

23%

38%

28%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Informal volunteering Formal volunteering

Male Female


Volunteering by age

20

Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once in the last 12 months prior to interview by age, 2010Informal volunteering

67%

73% 72% 72%

64%61%

46%

54%57% 56%

59%

53% 51%

40%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

All Adults 16-24 25-34 35-49 50- 64 65-74 75 and over

2001 2003 2005 2008/09 2009/10


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Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once in the last 12 months prior to interview by age, 2010Formal volunteering

44%

37%

26%

40% 41%

46%

39%

29%

40%39% 40%

37%41%

37%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


2001 2003 2005 2008/9 2010


22

Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once a month prior to interview by age, 2010Informal volunteering

34% 36%

29%29%32%

29% 28% 29%33%

25%

47%

37%37%

37%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


2005 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10


23

Participation in community and voluntary activities at least once a month prior to interview by age, 2010Formal volunteering

30% 31%

21%25% 23% 21%

28% 26%29%

21%

29% 32%

25%29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


2005 2007/08

2008/09 2009/10


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Commentary• The Government has changed its age profile volunteering figures to focus

on regular (once a month) volunteering• Consistency is vital when tracking volunteering levels so yearly and

monthly levels should be recorded• The age-related trend for informal volunteering, for both once a month

and once in the last 12 months shows that all groups have fallen since the last wave of research

• The age-related trend for formal volunteering, is nearly as uniformly disappointing with the over 75s bucking the trend with a slightly increase in once a month and once in last 12 months volunteering

• Young people (16-24), where there has been a high level of investment, have apparently fallen in line with other age-groups. Since 2005 volunteering has fallen for this age group for all measures. The most notable fall is in informal volunteering (once a month) from 47% to 32%. However, from our own research for the Youth Engagement Monitor we observe that volunteering for charities has been on the increase among young people since early 2008 (see next slide).

13% 14% 15%19%

16% 17%14%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

May-07 May-08 Nov-08 May-09 Nov-09 May-10 Nov-10

Volunteered in the last 3 months

Steady increase in the numbers of young people volunteering for charities since early 2008

Have you volunteered for a charity in the last 3 months? Those answering ‘Yes’

Base: All respondents – 1,000+ 11-25 year-oldsSource: Youth Engagement Monitor, nfpSynergy

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Citizen surveys – Looking forward

• Volunteering levels have been included in National Indicator 6 (NI6) i.e. government will consistently monitor these levels. It is now agreed within government that volunteering at least once a month is the key indicator to measure (as opposed to volunteering once in the last 12 months)

• NI6 states that volunteering is important for ‘empowering individuals, contributing to strong communities and adding value in the delivery of public services’

• The question that will measure NI 6 will be based on the questions used in the Government's Citizenship survey

• The baseline will be set by the first wave of the ‘Place Survey’, which was conducted in Autumn 2008 by the Communities and Local Government dept

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Key points• Levels of volunteering has been steadily declining since 2005 on almost ever

measure (slide 4 & %) – formal or informal, once in the last month or last 12 months all having decreased, and all having decreased between 2008/9 and 2009/10

• There is no evidence that the targeting of excluded groups or ethnic minorities– such as those with no qualifications has been successful (slides 9 & 10)

• It is perplexing (even worrying) that the volunteering levels have been steady since 2003/4 despite the heavy level of investment in volunteering by government.

• The question has to be what is the evidence that the significant funds that are being pumped into government volunteering schemes has had any impact (even on parameters not measured by these figures)

• Overall we believe that this research demonstrates the need for better evaluation of what does and doesn’t work in increasing levels of volunteering.

• At the moment substantial amounts of public money are being spent on volunteering with little evidence of successful returns on investment through increased volunteering.

government volunteering trends 2001- 2010

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