There is a tendency at the moment to look towards charities to help with our recession recovery process. It is hoped charities can provide volunteering opportunities which will help people gain work experience, confidence, motivation and references to support them in job-seeking. But do we already have evidence that there is a questionable link between the need for volunteering and the take-up of volunteering opportunities?
Looking at two sources of regional data, the Place Survey and the Annual Population Survey, it is apparent that the places which have the highest levels of worklessness also have lowest levels of volunteering. This is perhaps surprising for those of us who believe that volunteering increases at times (and in places) of high worklessness.
The 2008 Place Survey asked respondents if they had given unpaid help at least once per month over the last 12 months. In England 23.2% said that they did so – just over one in five of each people asked.
The Place Survey looked at this question, and many others, on a national level, local authority level and regional level. Of the nine English regions, the three with the lowest levels of unpaid help were the West Midlands (22%), London (21%) and the North East (19%). The highest were the South East (25%, Eastern England (25%) and the South West (28%).
Interestingly, these regions correlate almost entirely with the regions which have the highest and lowest levels of unemployment (Office for National Statistics, Annual Population Survey 2007). The worklessness data includes people who are unemployed and people who are economically inactive, for example, people who are sick/disabled, students, people looking after the family and home, and retired people. Those regions with the highest levels of worklessness are London (31%), North East, North West and the West Midlands. Those with the lowest levels of worklessness are South East (22%), South West and the East of England.
There has been much talk of late about the role of the third sector in our recovery from the recession. They are cited as not only being the source of support for those in dire straits but of as providers of volunteering opportunities for those who are looking for work, people who are unemployed, students and so forth. The Place Survey data above suggests that the relationship is just not that simple. The ‘need’ for volunteering as a way out of worklessness and the time individuals have available to volunteer are not necessarily the driving factors towards increased regular volunteering.
It is useful to note that the Place Survey did not restrict itself to formal within-charity volunteering but used a wider definition looking at help given to any club, group or society. It did exclude, however, family-based care.
There are myriad reasons why times and areas of high worklessness do not correlate with high levels of unpaid help being given. Not least is the fact that voluntary and community organisations each have a set of aims and objectives, some of which are met by using volunteer help. Few organisations are set up specifically to take on volunteers solely for the volunteers’ sake which is a time-consuming and costly business.
What is clear is that we cannot assume that worklessness increases volunteering. Much more work is needed to understand the relationship with investment in the voluntary and community sector to develop appropriate measures to encourage volunteering.
Posted by Gudrun Limbrick, Associate Director (Research), Red Foundation
Monday 26 October 2009
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