Volunteering in Northern Ireland:
A Research Report
29 January 2015
Introduction
As part of the Volunteering Strategy for Northern Ireland, the Department for Social Development’s (DSD) Voluntary and Community Unit (VCU) commissioned a project to help baseline volunteering levels throughout NI.
The primary data source used to gather this information was the Northern Ireland Omnibus survey conducted in September 2014. This report presents the findings of the research.
NI Omnibus Survey
An omnibus survey is a face-to face survey that contains questions about a wide range of issues. The Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey is carried out by the Central Survey Unit (CSU) of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) on a regular basis and is designed to provide a snapshot of the lifestyle and views of the people of Northern Ireland.
The content of the Omnibus questionnaire is agreed in consultation with the customers for the survey. Some sections will appear in every survey, for example sections on household structure, housing and employment. Other bespoke sections/questions will appear in the survey only occasionally, depending on what issues are topical at the time.
A systematic random sample of 2,200 addresses is drawn from a Land and Property Services Agency list of private addresses. This is the most up-to-date listing of private households and is made available to NISRA for research purposes. People living in institutions (e.g. residential homes) are excluded.
The survey interviewers list all members of the household, and one person aged 16 or over is randomly selected to complete the interview.
The fieldwork period is a calendar month. CSU run between 4 and 6 Omnibus surveys each year (usually January, April, May and September and occasionally March and October).
Eight questions regarding volunteering were designed by VCU in conjunction with the DSD Analytical Services Unit (ASU) and were first included within the September 2013 Omnibus survey. These questions were repeated in the September 2014 Omnibus. This report details the findings from the 2014 survey and provides comparisons with the 2013 baseline where appropriate. It is intended that the questions will be repeated in 2015.
Further information on the Omnibus (to include the response rate for the September 2014 survey) is detailed in Annex A.
Definition of Volunteering
Respondents were asked to consider the following definition of volunteering in their responses:
Volunteering is defined as “the commitment of time and energy, for the benefit of society and the community, the environment, or individuals outside (or in addition to) one’s immediate family. It is unpaid and undertaken freely and by choice.”
Respondents were advised that their replies should only refer only to unpaid work or activities.
Rounding and Survey Error
It should be noted that in some instances totals may not add up due to rounding or multiple responses.
As the results presented in this report are based on sample survey data they are therefore subject to a degree of sampling error. This error will be reasonably small for the majority of results but will be larger in those estimates based on small numbers of cases (see base numbers).
Any statements made in this report regarding differences between groups, such as males and females, have been tested and are statistically significant at the 5% significance level. This significance level is the criteria for judging whether differences between groups might have arisen by chance. The standard criteria is the 5% level, i.e. the probability being one in twenty that an observed difference might have arisen by chance factors alone.
Weighting
On occasions, in tables showing weighted data, the sum of column totals does not equal the grand total. This is due to the rounding process associated with weighting.
The percentages in the tables are based on weighted data but the totals are unweighted.
For further information on weighting please see Annex A, Technical notes, Section 1.4 – Weighting.
Summary of Research Findings
· Just under a third (30%) of respondents indicated that they had carried out voluntary work within the past year.
· The top three reasons for not volunteering were, ‘I have work commitments’ (36%), ‘I don’t have the time’ (35%) and ‘I have to look after children/the home’ (25%).
· Almost half (47%) of respondents that had not carried out voluntary work within the past year stated that nothing would encourage them to volunteer.
· Of those who had volunteered in the previous year 43% had carried out a fundraising activity, 31% had volunteered for a church or religious organisation and 30% of respondents indicated that they had organised or helped to run a community event.
· The most common length of time spent volunteering in the previous 4 week period was ‘Less than 8 hours’ (33% of respondents).
· Around three quarters of respondents (76%) stated that their efforts are recognised/appreciated by the organisation for which they volunteer.
· The most common methods of identifying volunteering roles were from someone already involved in the organisation (42%), by word of mouth (37%), and through a church or religious organisation (27%).
· Around two fifths (41%) of respondents who had volunteered in the previous year indicated that a police or Access NI check was carried out.
The next section of the report provides further detail on the responses given to each of the eight questions asked.
Question 1
Figure 1: Thinking about the definition just given, in the past year, have you carried out any voluntary work or activity?
Base: 1,081
· 1,081 responses were received to this question.
· Just under a third (30%) of respondents indicated that they had carried out voluntary work within the past year, marking no significant change from the 2013 figure (29%).
· Over two thirds (70%) of respondents indicated that they had not carried out voluntary work within the past year.
· Similar proportions of male (28%) and female (32%) respondents said that they had volunteered in the past year.
· The proportion of respondents in paid employment who had volunteered (33%) was unchanged from 2013. The proportion of respondents not in paid employment also remained similar to the previous year’s result at around a quarter.
· Analysis by highest educational qualification showed that the higher the level of qualification achieved, the greater the proportion that have carried out voluntary work within the past year - 44% of those with degree level or higher volunteered, compared to 12% of those with no qualifications. This closely mirrored the previous year’s trend.
· Analysis by religion showed that 30% of Protestant respondents had volunteered in the past year (similar to 33% in 2013), compared with 31% of Catholic respondents (an increase from 25% in 2013).
· Analysis by disability status closely mirrored the previous year’s results. These showed that 33% (32% in 2013) of those without a disability volunteered in the past year, compared to 19% (17% in 2013) of those with a disability.
· Analysis by Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust revealed the only notable difference from 2013 results to be an increase in the proportion of respondents who had volunteered in the past year in the Southern HSC Trust area, from 24% to 35%.
· Analysis by deprivation quintile revealed that 16% of respondents in the quintile identified as ‘most deprived’ had volunteered in the previous year, compared with more than a third (35%) of respondents in the ‘least deprived’ quintile.
Question 2
Figure 2: Are there any reasons why? (asked to those who responded “No” to Question 1)
*Percentages may add to more than 100% due to multiple responses
Base: 778
· 778 responses were received to this question.
· The top three reasons for not volunteering – ‘I have work commitments’ (36%), ‘I don’t have the time’ (35%) and ‘I have to look after children/the home’ (25%) matched the top three reasons from 2013.
· Overall, there was little discernible difference from 2013 to 2014 in the proportion of respondents selecting reasons other than those in the top three.
· 10% of those who responded to the question stated that they did not want to do voluntary work, a slight decline from the 2013 figure (14%).
· Analysis by gender indicated that 34% of female respondents said “I have to look after children/the home” (an increase from 27% in 2013), compared with 15% of male respondents (14% in 2013).
· Female respondents (38%) were more likely than male respondents (31%) to give ‘I don’t have the time’ as a reason.
· Analysis by age group showed that a large proportion of those aged 25-34 (43%) and of those aged 35-49 (47%) said “I have to look after the children/the home”. Only 12% of those aged 50-64 gave this reason.
· Almost a third of those aged 65+ said they felt too old to get involved (30%) – this age group was also more likely than younger age groups to cite disability as a barrier, with 33% stating that ‘I have an illness or disability that prevents me from volunteering.’
· Analysis by dependant status showed that 44% of respondents with dependants gave work commitments as a reason for not volunteering, compared to 30% of those without dependants. Respondents with dependants (49%) were substantially more likely to give ‘I don’t have the time’ as a reason than those without dependants (26%).
· Analysis by employment status showed that around half (49%) of respondents in paid employment stated “I don’t have the time”, compared with 18% of those not in paid employment.
· Almost a third (30%) of those not in paid employment said that having an illness or disability prevented them from volunteering, compared with 3% of those in paid employment.
· Analysis by deprivation quintile indicated that respondents in the ‘most deprived’ quintile were much less likely to give ‘I don’t have the time’ (22%) as a reason for not volunteering, compared with 52% in the ‘least deprived’ quintile.
· Other responses received mainly referenced caring duties as a reason for not volunteering.
Question 3
Figure 3: What would encourage you or make it easier for you to become a volunteer? (asked to those who responded “No” to Question 1)
*Percentages may add to more than 100% due to multiple responses
Base: 778
· 778 responses were received to this question.
· Almost half (47%) of respondents stated that nothing would encourage them to volunteer, the same proportion as in 2013. This became more pronounced as age group increased with 29% of the “25-34” group stating this, compared to 72% of the “65 and over” age group.
· Analysis by marital status showed that 21% of single respondents stated that improving job/career prospects would encourage them to volunteer, compared with 9% of married[1] respondents.
· Married respondents (47%) were more likely than single respondents (36%) to say that nothing would encourage them to volunteer, which closely mirrored the trend in 2013.
· A greater proportion of those without dependents (51%) than those with dependents (41%) said that nothing would encourage them to volunteer.
· Analysis by employment status showed that more than half of those respondents who are not in paid employment (56%) answered that ‘nothing would encourage me to volunteer’, compared to 39% of those who are in paid employment.
· 16% of those in paid employment indicated that they would be more likely to volunteer if they received time off or support from their employer, similar to the 2014 figure of 21%.
· Analysis by disability status showed that almost two thirds (62%) of respondents with a disability stated “nothing would encourage me to volunteer”, compared to 41% of those without a disability. This is a similar outcome to the 2013 results.
· Other reasons given included needing more time to volunteer and needing better financial stability in order to volunteer.
Question 4
Figure 4: In the last 12 months, what types of voluntary work have you carried out? Please indicate all that apply. Please exclude anything that was carried out as part of a paid job.
(asked to those who responded “Yes” to Question 1)
*Percentages may add to more than 100% due to multiple responses
Base: 303
· 303 responses were received to this question.
· Of those who had volunteered in the previous year 43% had carried out a fundraising activity, 31% had volunteered for a church or religious organisation and 30% of respondents indicated that they had organised or helped to run a community event.
· Analysis by gender indicated that male respondents (25%) were more likely to be involved in coaching as a volunteering activity than female respondents (13%).
· Meanwhile, female respondents (26%) were more likely than male respondents (15%) to visit people (not including immediate family).
· Female respondents (38%) were also more likely to have volunteered for a church or religious organisation than male respondents (21%).
· Protestant respondents (44%), who said they had volunteered in the past year, were more likely to volunteer for a church or religious organisation than Catholic respondents (20%), which mirrored the trend in 2013 (49% of Protestant respondents, 21% of Catholic respondents).
· Respondents living in rural areas (20%) were more likely to have volunteered by providing transport/driving than respondents living in an urban location (9%). This is a reversal of the 2013 trend, where respondents living in urban areas (16%) were more likely to have volunteered by providing transport/driving than respondents living in a rural location (4%).
· In 2013, 48% of respondents in paid employment had volunteered through fundraising, compared to 31% of those not in paid employment. In 2014, this gap had narrowed - 45% of those respondents in paid employment, and 40% of those not in paid employment had volunteered through fundraising.
· Other types of voluntary work carried out by respondents included dog walking, working with people with disabilities, employer-supported volunteering, and marshalling/stewarding at sporting events.
Question 5
Figure 5: Approximately how many hours have you spent doing these types of voluntary work in the last 4 weeks? (asked to those who responded “Yes” to Question 1)