The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

CHAPTER EIGHT BARRIERS TO VOLUNTEERING

Summary

8.1 This chapter analyses the reasons Scottish Household Survey respondents gave for stopping volunteering. Some variations based on age, gender, economic status, income and urban/rural classification exist but the most common reasons for stopping volunteering are a lack of time, followed by, changes in job circumstances, illness and moving house..

8.2 Qualitative research confirms Scottish Household Survey findings that volunteers are likely to give up volunteering due to a lack of time, often due to a change in circumstances such as starting a new job or having children.

8.3 To overcome barriers people face to volunteering, we have made some recommendations, including:

• simplify the Disclosure Scotland process - for example, removing the need to apply for a separate disclosure check for every voluntary position applied for, but, rather, place a time limit on when a single disclosure check (that is valid for any voluntary position applied for) requires to be updated
• raise awareness of volunteering opportunities, what they involve and how people from all walks of life can make a contribution. Workplaces may be an effective intermediary through which to reach non-volunteers.
• people may be reluctant to put themselves forward to volunteer but may be more likely to do so if they are asked directly
• the Scottish Executive should consider whether or not the SHS should identify volunteers by asking about activity rather than organisation. A number of people who identified themselves as having never volunteered in our qualitative research had actually volunteered in the past. This was revealed by clarifying the full range of activities that could be classed as 'volunteering' and probing for unpaid activity that may not be perceived as volunteering (see Annex 9 for interview schedules and focus group topic guides).

Introduction

8.4 This chapter analyses the barriers to volunteering experienced by people who have never volunteered, and the barriers to doing as much volunteering as they would like faced by current volunteers. The SHS does not currently ask questions relating to these issues to these groups of people, so the findings in this section are based on focus group and interview work with individuals volunteers and non-volunteers.

8.5 It would arguably be useful for the volunteering strategy for SHS to have questions relating to barriers for both non-volunteers and current volunteers. However there may be a logistical problem of adding in yet more questions to an already crowded survey. It is possible that other research, for example that carried out by Volunteer Development Scotland, could be used to ask current and non-volunteers about barriers they face to volunteering.

8.6 The SHS does ask questions of people who have volunteered in the past about barriers to volunteering. These questions relate to why they stopped and what would encourage them to take up voluntary activity again. The findings in this section are based on the analysis of the SHS data and the outcomes from focus groups and interview work with individuals who have volunteered at some time in the past.

Barriers to Volunteering

Current Volunteers

8.7 Two focus groups were held with people who currently volunteer: one on the Isle of Skye (seven participants) and one in Kirkcaldy (nine participants).

8.8 Participants in these focus groups were asked if they had experienced any barriers to taking up volunteering, or doing as much voluntary work as they would like. A number of these were discussed, including the following:

• Health and disability issues, which restrict the amount of volunteering that participants who have a health problem or disability can do due to:
• a lack of energy or ability caused by their illness/disability
• constraints caused by practical issues, for example, a lack of disabled parking spaces may prevent a disabled person from volunteering, if they are physically unable to walk the distance from another parking space to their place of volunteering
• concern about letting people down if they cannot fulfil their volunteering duties as a result of their condition, which can lead to a reluctance to take on additional commitments.
• Disclosure Scotland checks. These are expensive, involve what is seen as a lengthy process and there is the inconvenience of completing a separate application for each voluntary position. One participant was prevented from volunteering with school children doing their cycling proficiency training because the school could not afford to pay for his disclosure check. To improve this situation, it was suggested that the disclosure process should be made speedier, and the requirement to have a check carried out for each voluntary position should be removed or at least made more flexible. For example, the process would be simpler if a single disclosure check was valid for multiple voluntary positions, but had to be renewed after a certain amount of time. This is an issue that is currently being addressed by the Scottish government.
• a lack of affordable and reliable public transport in rural areas.
• State benefits. One participant mentioned that because of her benefits situation, she could not do any more than 16 hours of volunteering per week.

8.9 Other disadvantages or problems associated with volunteering mentioned by current volunteers are:

• a lengthy wait for reimbursement of travel expenses
• an individual may be overloaded by requests for help if he/she is seen as someone willing to volunteer
• lack of acceptance from professionals working in field - for example, one participant volunteering with a caring organisation felt professionals working in the field look down on volunteers, who are seen as lacking in expertise, making it difficult to work together.

8.10 Those disadvantages listed above at paragraph 8.8 were not perceived to be sufficiently strong barriers to stop people volunteering.

8.11 These participants were also asked if they could foresee anything that might cause them to stop volunteering within the next year. Only one felt she may have to stop volunteering within the near future, when her son, who has learning disabilities, leaves school, which will place more demands on her time to care for him.

Non-Volunteers

8.12 Non-volunteers, that is, people who identified themselves as never having done any voluntary work, participated in qualitative research for this study. We held two focus groups in Glasgow - involving a total of 10 participants.

8.13 On the Isle of Skye, we carried out one focus group with four participants, one face-to-face interview and five telephone interviews.

8.14 The main barriers to volunteering mentioned, unprompted, by these participants were as follows:

• lack of time caused by work, family and other commitments.
• lack of awareness of opportunities to volunteer and where to find information about volunteering. As one participant put it, "I'd like to volunteer but don't know how to go about it" (non-volunteer, Skye, male).
• lack of confidence in their ability to volunteer, that is, a belief that they do not have the necessary skills to volunteer, or a "lack of confidence in (non-volunteers') ability to make a difference" (non-volunteer, Glasgow, female).
• lack of awareness of what volunteering involves. "There is a perception that volunteering is intense and emotionally draining" (non-volunteer, Glasgow, female).

8.15 The latter two of these barriers are inter-linked, with a lack of awareness of what volunteering involves contributing to the fear that participants would be unable to make an effective contribution in a voluntary role.

8.16 This is a theme also identified by research examining non-volunteers perceptions of volunteering carried out by TNS on behalf of Volunteer Development Scotland, which also found that a lack of awareness of what volunteering involves contributed to the perception among non-volunteers that they did not have the time to volunteer.

8.17 To address this, non-volunteers would like more information about volunteering opportunities, what they involve, and how they could contribute. To do this, non-volunteers suggested that a marketing campaign, featuring case studies of volunteers from all walks of life on short television slots, should be implemented. This campaign should raise awareness of where to find information about volunteering opportunities, and of what is involved in volunteering and the wide range of activities that can be undertaken. By doing this, it would be possible to demonstrate to potential volunteers that they could have the ability to volunteer.

8.18 It was suggested that workplaces would be an effective intermediary through which to target potential volunteers. Employers (particularly those with a stated corporate social responsibility strategy) could be encouraged to allow their employees some time off work to volunteer to help their local community. As well as being good PR for employers, individuals would be given the time to volunteer and have the chance to gain a taster of volunteering.

8.19 We recommend that volunteering opportunities should be as easy as possible to access and to find out about, and that efforts should be made to raise awareness of volunteering opportunities and what they involve among non-volunteers. Using workplaces as an intermediary to reach these people could be an effective means of doing this.

8.20 Other barriers mentioned by this group were Disclosure Scotland issues and a lack of affordable and available transport in rural areas.

8.21 A small number of participants said that their health would prevent them from volunteering.

8.22 In addition, some people may be reluctant to put themselves forward to volunteer. One way to tackle this is to ask people to volunteer directly and personally.

8.23 The TNS research mentioned above also found that non-volunteers may be more likely to volunteer if they were asked to do so by somebody they know. Further, one participant in our qualitative research said that he had never considered volunteering because he had never been asked to.

8.24 Directly asking non-volunteers to volunteer could overcome their lack of awareness of what volunteering involves and how they could contribute, particularly if the person asking is known to them, as questions could be asked and the exact nature of the volunteering opportunity explained.

8.25 It emerged from our research that almost half of participants who had identified themselves as people who had never volunteered, had in actual fact undertaken unpaid activities that could be termed as volunteering in the past. This was revealed by probing for any unpaid activity undertaken in the past, that may not be perceived to be volunteering. Activities undertaken by these participants include helping with a child's football team, helping with school activities and serving on a committee of a choir of which the participant was a member. In these situations these 'non-volunteers' did not view this activity as 'volunteering', rather it was seen as just helping out, or something that was expected of them due to the involvement of themselves/their children in the group.

8.26 This suggests that a higher proportion of people in Scotland are involved in voluntary activity than identified by the Scottish Household Survey, due to differing perceptions of which activities comprise 'volunteering'. Clearly some respondents do not call the above activities volunteering.

8.27 This also supports the argument for asking the screening question about activity rather than organisation to help people understand what is meant by 'volunteering'.

Reasons for Stopping Volunteering

8.28 As well as issues that act as barriers to people starting volunteering, or doing as much voluntary work as they would like to, we have analysed reasons for stopping volunteering given by former volunteers. This is based on responses to the Scottish Household Survey and augmented by qualitative telephone interviews carried out by Blake Stevenson.

8.29 In the focus groups current volunteers were also asked, if they had had to stop volunteering in the past, why this had been the case.

Scottish Household Survey Respondents who had Stopped Volunteering

8.30 To identify current and former volunteers, Scottish Household Survey respondents were asked 'have you ever volunteered?'.

8.31 The analysis below is based on the responses of the 1863 respondents who said 'yes' to the above question in the 2005 survey. This includes a small number of current volunteers who have stopped volunteering in the past but have now resumed voluntary activity. The remaining respondents volunteered in the past but have stopped and have not resumed.

Reasons for Stopping Volunteering

8.32 Respondents to the Scottish Household Survey who have given up volunteering in the past were asked to identify the reason(s) why they had stopped volunteering.

8.33 It is important to note two points regarding our analysis of reasons for stopping volunteering.

8.34 Firstly, respondents were given a list of possible reasons for stopping volunteering, from which they were asked to indicate the reason(s) for their stopping volunteering. In 2005, respondents who said they had stopped volunteering due to another reason not on the list were asked to specify the 'other' reason. The number of people quoting the following 'other' reasons was recorded in the dataset on which our analysis is based.

• "too old"
• "children grew up"
• "became a student"
• "organisation collapsed/organisational issues"
• "too much pressure"
• "time-limited/no longer needed".

8.35 Secondly, it should be noted that respondents were able to give more than one reason for why they stopped volunteering. We have recorded both the first reasons given, and the combined reasons in table 8.1 below. However the bulk of analysis concerns the first reasons only, as the number of those with second reasons represents less than a quarter of the first. In addition the order of categories is not significantly changed.

Table 8.1: Reasons for Stopping Volunteering

Base: 1863 respondents who were asked the question: "why did you stop being involved in voluntary work or activities?"

8.36 Table 8.1 shows that lack of time (23.2%) is the significantly most common reason for giving up volunteering. The next most common reasons are (not in significant order) illness (14.3%), changed employment circumstances (13.1%) and moving house (11.8%).

8.37 This finding is supported by our telephone interviews with former volunteers. Many of these participants stopped volunteering primarily because of a lack of time often caused by a change in their circumstances, for example having children or changing job.

8.38 When prompted, many interviewees who gave up volunteering as a result of time pressures said that this could be overcome if volunteering opportunities were more flexible, for example:

• if children could be taken along and perhaps participate - this would solve childcare worries
• if volunteering could be undertaken at the weekend
• if volunteering could be done from home
• if volunteers could choose when and for how long to volunteer.

8.39 Other reasons for stopping volunteering include:

• Health issues - interviewees who gave this reason said they would have liked to continue volunteering, but their health made this unrealistic, even with support. "I would have been happy to volunteer more if it weren't for my health" (former volunteer, female, Borders). One interviewee who said he stopped because of health problems said he would volunteer again if he could find a suitable opportunity, that is, one that is not too strenuous. One current volunteer had given up volunteering due to health issues but resumed volunteering after recovery.
• Health of family members - two interviewees stopped volunteering to care for family members who were ill.
• Moving away from the area, including to start university, meaning that the voluntary organisation was too far away. One current volunteer had stopped volunteering as a result of moving to a new area but has now resumed volunteering having found opportunities in his new locality.
• Too much travel. One interviewee wanted to fit all her volunteering hours into one day a week rather than two, but the organisation was unwilling to be flexible, resulting in the interviewee stopping volunteering.
• Feeling unappreciated - "the children loved it and improved but the school did not seem to care" (former volunteer, female, Borders).

8.40 Other problems/disadvantages (that were not the main reason for stopping volunteering) associated with volunteering identified by former volunteers include:

• emotionally draining nature of certain voluntary opportunities
• difficulties in combining volunteering with studying
• lack of training in how to deal with a particular group of disabled people.

8.41 The following section reports on the reasons for stopping volunteering reported in the Scottish Household Survey and how they relate to the following demographic characteristics:

• Age
• Gender
• Economic Status
• Income
• Urban/Rural Classification.

Age

Table 8.2: Reasons for Stopping Volunteering by Age 2005

Base: 1863 respondents who were asked the question: "why did you stop being involved in voluntary work or activities?"

Age 16 to 24

8.42 The reason that is most likely to lead those aged 16 to 24 to stop volunteering is a lack of time (28.5%).

8.43 This age group is also significantly more likely than older age groups to stop volunteering as a result of becoming a student.

8.44 Two of our telephone interviewees stopped volunteering as a result of becoming a student. For both, this meant moving away from home, and consequently too far away from the organisations with whom they volunteered. These interviewees would be keen to re-start volunteering, but currently have no time due to university classes and studying on weekdays and part-time paid employment at weekends.

Age 25-34

8.45 Respondents aged 25 to 34 are significantly more likely to stop volunteering because of a lack of time (33.3%) than any other reason.

8.46 A significantly larger proportion of this age group stop volunteering as a result of a lack of time than those aged over 60.

8.47 This age group is significantly more likely to stop volunteering as a result of having children than the survey sample.

Age 35 to 44

8.48 Compared to other reasons, a lack of time (30.5%) and changing job (18.7%) are most likely to cause this age group to stop volunteering. Indeed, a lack of time is significantly more likely to cause this age group to stop volunteering than the survey sample.

8.49 Thirty-five to 44 year olds are significantly more likely than respondents aged over 60 to stop volunteering as a result of a lack of time.

8.50 In addition, this age group is significantly more likely than the survey sample to give up volunteering as a result of having children or changing job.

8.51 They are significantly less like to give up volunteering due to illness than the survey sample.

Age 45 to 59

8.52 Compared to other reasons, a lack of time (28.7%) is most likely to cause this age group to stop volunteering.

8.53 This age group is significantly more likely than those aged over 60 to give up volunteering due to a lack of time. They are less likely that the 25-39 age group to give up because of having children

Age 60 to 74

8.54 Compared to other reasons for stopping volunteering, a larger proportion said that illness (28.7%) led to them stopping volunteering.

8.55 Respondents aged over 60 years are significantly more likely than younger people, and the sample as a whole to give up volunteering as a result of illness. This finding is supported by our telephone interview findings, where interviewees over 60 were more likely to have given up due to health reasons.

Age 75 Plus

8.56 Respondents aged over 75 are significantly more likely to give up volunteering because of becoming too old (25.5%) or illness (33.7%) than any other reason. They are significantly more likely than the survey sample, and any other age group to cite becoming too old as a reason for stopping volunteering.

Gender

Table 8.3: Reasons for Stopping Volunteering by Gender

Base: 1863 respondents who were asked the question: "why did you stop being involved in voluntary work or activities?"

8.57 A significantly larger proportion of males named lack of time (26.4%) as a reason for stopping volunteering than any other reason. This was also the most common reason among females (21.4%). There is no significant difference between the proportions of the two genders that named this reason.

8.58 In addition females are significantly more likely that males to give up volunteering because of illness, having children, or children leaving home.

8.59 Our telephone interviews found no difference between males and females in reasons given for stopping volunteering.

Economic Status

Table 8.4: Reasons for Stopping Volunteering by Economic Status

Base:1863 respondents who were asked the question: "why did you stop being involved in voluntary work or activities?"

Note: Groupings 'at school', 'in government work/training scheme', 'unable to work due to short term health' and 'other' have been omitted from the table due to small sample size.

Self-employed

8.58 Compared to other reasons, a significantly larger proportion of those who are self-employed said that a lack of time (43.0%) led to giving up volunteering. This group is significantly more likely to give a lack of time as a reason for giving up volunteering than the population sample and also:

• those who are looking after home/family
• those who are permanently sick or disabled
• those who are permanently retired.

Full-time Employed

8.59 A significantly larger proportion of respondents who are employed full-time named lack of time (35.5%) as a reason for stopping volunteering than any other reason.

8.60 Significantly larger proportions of respondents in this group than the survey sample stopped volunteering due to starting a paid job.

8.61 In addition, they are more likely to stop volunteering because of lack of time than:

• looking after their home/family
• those who are unemployed
• .those permanently retired

Part-time Employed

8.62 Those who are employed on a part-time basis are significantly more likely to stop volunteering as a result of lack of time (26.3%) than any other reason.

Looking after Home/Family

8.63 This group is significantly more likely than the survey sample (18.7%) to give up volunteering as a result of having children

8.64 They are significantly less likely than the survey sample to cite lack of time.

Retired

8.65 Respondents who are retired are significantly more likely to have stopped volunteering as a result of illness (32.7%) than any other reason.

Unemployed and Seeking Work

8.66 Respondents who are unemployed and seeking work are more likely, when compared with other reasons, to give up volunteering as a result of moving house (22.7%). There is no significant difference in the proportions of other groups naming this reason.

Higher/Further Education

8.67 Those who are in higher or further education said they gave up volunteering due to lack of time (30.9%), moving house (26.5%) or becoming a student (16.2%). There is no significant difference between the proportions of this group giving each of these reasons.

8.68 This group is significantly more likely than the survey sample to have stopped volunteering to become a student.

Permanently Sick/Disabled

8.69 Respondents who are permanently sick or disabled are significantly more likely to stop volunteering due to illness (51.8%) than any other reason.

8.70 A significantly higher proportion of this group stopped volunteering due to illness when compared with every other group and with the survey sample as a whole.

Income

Table 8.5: Reasons for Stopping Volunteering by Annual Household Income

Base: 1819 respondents with income information who were asked the question: "why did you stop being involved in voluntary work or activities?"

£0-£6,000

8.71 Those respondents earning £0-£6,000, when compared with other reasons, were most likely to cite illness (28.2%) as a reason for giving up volunteering. This group is significantly more likely to give this reason than those who earn £15,001 or more, and the survey sample as a whole

8.72 They are also significantly less likely that the sample, and particularly those earning more than £20,000 to give up due to lack of time.

£6,001-£10,000

8.73 Those respondents earning between £6,001 and £10,000, when compared with other reasons, were significantly most likely to stop volunteering due to illness (24.3%).

8.74 Also, when compared with the survey sample, this group is significantly more likely to have stopped volunteering due to illness.

£10,001-£15,000

8.75 A larger proportion of respondents in this income bracket quoted illness as a reason for stopping volunteering than any other reason (23.4%).

8.76 In addition, this group is significantly more likely than the survey sample to have given up volunteering due to illness.

£15,001-£20,000

8.77 Respondents in this income bracket were significantly more likely to stop volunteering as a result of a lack of time (24.9%) than any other reason.

8.78 Those earning more than £15,000 are significantly more likely than those earning £10,000 or less to stop volunteering due to a lack of time, but are significantly less likely than those earning £10,000 or less to stop as a result of illness.

£20,001-£25,000

8.79 The reason for stopping volunteering most commonly quoted by this income group is lack of time (31.0%).

£25,001-£30,000

8.80 The reason for stopping volunteering most commonly quoted by this income group is lack of time (30.2%).

£30,001-£40,000

8.81 Respondents who earn between £30,001 and £40,000, when compared with other reasons, are most likely to give up volunteering due to lack of time (30.4%).

£40,001 Plus

8.82 Those respondents at the upper end of the income scale were more likely to have stopped volunteering due to a lack of time (30.1.%) or changing job (19.2%) than any other reason.

Urban Rural Classification

Table 8.6: Reasons for Stopping Volunteering by Urban/Rural Classification

Base: 2733 respondents who were asked the question: "why did you stop being involved in voluntary work or activities?"

Large Urban Areas

8.83 Respondents living in large urban areas, when compared with other reasons, were significantly more likely to say they had stopped volunteering because of lack of time (25.5%).

8.84 There is no significant difference between the proportions of respondents in this urban/rural classification and other urban rural classifications that gave this reason. There is also no significant difference between any urban/rural classification and the survey sample.

Other Urban Areas

8.85 A larger proportion of respondents living in other urban areas said that they gave up volunteering due to lack of time (20.2%) than any other reason, although this was not statistically significant.

Small Accessible Towns

8.86 Respondents living in small accessible towns, when compared with other reasons, are significantly more likely to say they had stopped volunteering because of lack of time (24.3%), although this was not statistically significant.

Small Remote Towns

8.87 Respondents in this urban/rural classification are more likely to have given up volunteering due to becoming lack of time than any other reason (16.7%) although this was not statistically significant.

Accessible Rural

8.88 A larger proportion of respondents in this group said that they stopped volunteering because of lack of time (21.6%) than any other reason although this was not statistically significant.

Remote Rural

8.89 Respondents living in remote rural areas were more likely to have given up volunteering due to lack of time (26.8%) than any other reason although this was not statistically significant.

8.90 Our qualitative research found that problems with public transport were more likely to act as a barrier to volunteering in rural Skye than in urban areas of Fife.

« Previous | Contents | Next »