UK Civil Society Almanac 2023

• In December 2022, the voluntary sector has the highest proportion of women in the workforce (67%), closely followed by the public sector (64%). The private sector has more men than women working in the sector (59%).
• There has been a slight fluctuation in the proportion of men and women in comparison to the other sectors over the last 10 years, although the percentage ratio has remained largely stable since 2018.

• The voluntary sector has the oldest workforce compared to the public and private sectors, with one in four (26%) of staff being over 55.
• Both the voluntary sector (6%) and the public sector (6%) have half as many people under the age of 25 (13%) than the private sector.
• This could be due to a lack of formal entry schemes in the sector in comparison to the private sector.
• While the age profile of the voluntary sector is fairly similar to that seen in previous years, there has been a slight shift away from those below the age of 25 towards those aged 65 and over.
• Close to two-thirds (68%) of people are aged between 25 and 55.
• About 9 in 10 people (89%) are aged between 25 and 64 in the voluntary sector. This is similar to the public sector (90%) but higher than in the private sector (89%).

The voluntary sector has half as many people under the age of 25 as the private sector

• In 2012 there was a much smaller difference in diversity by sector with 92% identifying as white in the voluntary sector compared with 90% in each of the public and private sectors.
• In December 2022, while there has been little change in the voluntary sector (91% white), there has been a much bigger increase in diversity in the public sector (86% white) and private sector (85% white).
• This still over-represents white people in the UK population in all three sectors (82% identify as white).
• Included in the 9% BAME or global majority employees in the voluntary sector, there are a similar amount of Asian (3.5%) and Black (2.5%) employees.

There is less ethnic diversity in the voluntary sector workforce than both the public and private sector

• Since 2016, the voluntary sector has had a higher proportion of disabled people in its workforce than both the public and private sectors.
• The voluntary sector has had a 37% increase (19% to 26%) in the proportion of disabled people in its workforce since 2016, increasing further from 23% in December 2021.
• In December 2022, there has not been a significant increase in disabled people in the voluntary (20%) or public sector (18%) since December 2021.

The higher proportion of disabled people in the voluntary sector workforce could be influenced by more people declaring their status over time and practices within the sector. For example, an increase in flexible working arrangements.

The amount of disabled people is growing, with just over 1 in 4 (26%) people identifying as disabled in the voluntary sector