What are the demographics of volunteers?

Overview

  • In 2020/21, people aged 65-74 were the most likely age group to formally volunteer. 22% volunteered at least once a month and 32% volunteered at least once a year. This was down from 31% and 40% respectively from 2019/20.
  • People aged 25-34 were the least likely age group to formally volunteer. 12% volunteered formally at least once a month - slightly more than half the rate of those aged 65-74 — while 23% volunteered at least once a year. This was also down from 16% and 29% respectively from the previous year.
  • The fall in formal volunteering for all age groups during the pandemic was bigger for younger people aged under 34 and older people aged 65 and over. People aged 35 to 64 experienced a smaller decline, which may reflect different types of volunteering undertaken by people in different age groups.
  • On the other hand, informal volunteering increased across most age groups. The biggest rise was for those informally volunteering at least once a month was for those aged 25-34 and 35-49 — both rising from 24% in 2019/20 to 31% in 2020/21.

People aged 65–74 are most likely to volunteer formally (through an organisation) – though the gap with younger age groups has narrowed substantially during the pandemic

By gender

  • Women are slightly more likely to formally volunteer than men – both at least once a year (31% to 29%) and at least once a month (18% to 17%)
  • Women are also far more likely to informally volunteer at least once a month (37% to 28%) and at least once a year (58% to 51%).
  • According to the special Community Life Survey during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, women were also more likely to engage in covid-19-related formal volunteering (59% to 41%).

Women are more likely than men to volunteer both regularly and occasionally

By ethnicity

  • According to the Community Life Survey, Black and White people are more likely to volunteer than other ethnicities, both at least once a month (23% for Black and 18% for white people) and at least once a year (35% and 30% respectively). In comparison, Asian and mixed are less likely to volunteer at least once a month (14% and 15%) and at least once a year (31% and 27% respectively).
  • However, Time Well Spent data tells a different story. White people volunteer at the same rate as the national average (26% for at least once a month and 38% for at least once a year), while Black people volunteered less than the average for both at least once a month (21%) and at least once a year (32%). For more information, please see the methodology section.
  • While the available data appears to show some ethic groups volunteer less than others, the low sample size, especially among certain age groups, means this data is not conclusive. For more context, please take a look at the Time Well Spent report on diversity and volunteering.

Volunteering participation varies by ethnicity, but different data sources tell different stories

By disability

  • Disabled people are equally likely to volunteer at least once a month as non-disabled people (19%). However, disabled people are slightly less likely to volunteer at least once a year (30% to 33% respectively).
  • For informal volunteering at least once a month, there is a significant gap for disabled people compared to non-disabled people (37% to 33%).

Disabled people are as likely to volunteer regularly but slightly less likely to volunteer occasionally

By socio-economic status

  • In 2020/21, 12% of people in the most deprived areas formally volunteered at least once a month - about half the rate of those from the least deprived areas (23%). There is a similar gap for those who formally volunteer at least once a year (22% to 38%).
  • However, there is a much smaller difference in proportion for informal volunteering (48% for most deprived to 60% for least deprived areas, at least once a year). For those informally volunteering at least once a month, the gap is even smaller (30% to 36%).
  • These differences are confirmed by a body of research evidence that suggests more significant socioeconomic differences for formal volunteering than informal volunteering.
  • The Centre for Ageing Better produced research on informal volunteering in a socioeconomically deprived ward in Scarborough which found that helping out others was an important means to bond people to their community and other people, though there were still barriers such as poor health, costs and demographic differences .
  • For formal volunteering, volunteers from lower socio-economic groups were less likely to undertake leadership or organising roles, such as being a trustee.

People from the most deprived socioeconomic areas are half as likely to formally volunteer as those with the least deprived socioeconomic status

More data and research

Links and resources

Notes and definitions

Findings from this page are largely taken from the latest data from the Community Life Survey (2020/21). Other data is taken from Time Well Spent, which also looks at volunteer profiles. Differences in the sample and methodology should be noted (more on this in the methodology section).

Specific terms

  • Formal volunteering: giving unpaid help through a group, club or organisation.
  • Informal volunteering: giving unpaid help as an individual to people who are not a relative.
  • Regular volunteering: people volunteer at least once a month.

This page was last reviewed for accuracy on 18 October 2022