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Indicators of progress: Definitions, data, baseline and trends information

Milestone 28 : Increasing the number of people across all communities taking part in voluntary activities

Indicator

The source of information for this milestone is the Scottish Household Survey (SHS).

Availability of data

The information is available for 2000 and 2001. The information is available by gender, by neighbourhood type and by economic status. Data is not available by ethnicity or disability. There is some rural urban analysis.

Data on volunteering was collected in the 1999 SHS. However, the question was significantly revised in 2000 - data for 1999 is not comparable to that for 2000 onwards .

Percentage Volunteering

The general conclusion is that over the period 2000 to 2001 the number of people who give up their time to voluntary activity has remained unchanged. In 2001, an estimated 25% of the population participated in voluntary activity, compared with 26% in 2000. This change is not statistically significant. Although there has been a general decrease in the number of men and women taking part in voluntary activity, the largest decrease is in the number of men aged 16-24 years old. Men are less likely to give up time as a volunteer and that the most common age groups for volunteers are 35-44 and 45-59 years of age.

As in 2000, people classed as self-employed are most likely to have given time to voluntary activity in the last 12 months. In 2001, those classified as in part-time employment and at school are also more likely to have taken part in voluntary activity in the last 12 months.

There are rural urban differences in the levels of volunteering. Chart 28c shows that the proportion of the population involved in voluntary activity generally increases as the location becomes more rural. 36 percent of the population in remote rural locations give up time to voluntary activity compared with 21 percent in the primary cities.

Chart 28a : Percentage of people who give up time as a volunteer by gender and age - 2001

Source : Scottish Household Survey
Note : The data for1999 should not be compared to the data for 2000 and 2001 as the question used to collect the information was changed after 1999.

Chart 28b : Percentage of people who give up time as a volunteer by gender and age - 2000

Source : Scottish Household Survey
Note : The data for1999 should not be compared to the data for 2000 and 2001 as the question used to collect the information was changed after 1999.

Chart 28c: Percentage of people who give up time as a volunteer by urban rural location - 2001

Source: Scottish Household Survey 2001

Background data

The information for 1999 should not be directly compared with the information for 2000 as the questions used to collect the information were revised between years. Data for 2000 and 2001 are directly comparable.

The MOSAIC categories have been revised in 2001. The MOSAIC classification in 2001 is not comparable to that used in 2000 .

Table 28c : Volunteering by Neighbourhood type - 2000

Source : Scottish Household Survey

Table 28d : Volunteering by Neighbourhood Type - 2001

Source: Scottish Household Survey
Note: The MOSAIC groups used in classifying neighbourhood type have been completely revised in 2001, and are not comparable to those used in 1999 and 2000.

Table 28e : Percentage of people volunteering by economic status

Source : Scottish Household Survey

Table 28f : Percentage of people who give up time as a volunteer by gender age - 2000 and 2001

Source : Scottish Household Survey
Note: The estimates for 2000 have been recalculated following small revisions to the data.

Table 28g: Percentage of people who give up time as a volunteer, by rural urban location - 2001

Source : Scottish Household Survey

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