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27th November 2024

Scottish Household Survey (SHS) - 2023 Results

The 2023 Scottish Household Survey results on volunteering point to a crisis in volunteering. The formal volunteering participation rate has dropped to 18% - four percentage points lower than the 2022 figure and eight percentage points lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Volunteer Scotland are deeply concerned about this further decline in volunteer participation – yet we are not entirely surprised. We all remember the high inflation rates and impacts of the Cost- of- Living crisis on our personal lives last year (and into this year for many of us too). The Scottish Household Survey for 2023 collected data from 10,543 people between February 2023 and February 2024. The Cost-of-Living crisis was in full swing – at the start of data collection, the consumer price index was still high at 10.4% (Office of National Statistics Dec 2023).

Our quarterly Cost-of-Living bulletins have been tracking the impact of the crisis on volunteering. Many voluntary sector organisations have experienced a ‘perfect storm’ of increased demand, rising costs and stagnating income, and individuals have less time and finance which is reducing their capacity to volunteer. Our bulletin in May 2023 showed that volunteer shortages were the single biggest challenge facing third sector organisations. Scottish adults were experiencing many negative impacts from the Cost-of-Living crisis, including on their mental health (49%) and time to connect with others (43%) and had concerns about their ability to pay for groceries (26%), heating or hot water for their home (25%) and leisure activities (18%).

All this considered, we knew that volunteering was suffering, and today’s results demonstrate the true extent of the decline in volunteering. This blog outlines the headline findings on formal volunteering in 2023 from the data published on 27th November 2024 and compares results to 2022 findings. Volunteer Scotland will publish a more detailed analysis in January 2025.

Key findings

  • The formal volunteering participation rate is 18%, a statistically significant difference compared to the rate of 22% in 2022. This equates to over 138,000 fewer Scottish adults formally volunteering between 2022 and 2023. There has been a 12-percentage point fall from the 30% high in 2011.
  • ‘Local community/neighbourhood’ volunteering remains the most popular type of volunteering with 28% of volunteers undertaking this activity type in 2023, compared to 27% in 2022 and 22% in 2019. We are cautiously optimistic that over a quarter of Scottish adults are volunteering in their local community  which could point to the positive legacy of community-based volunteering during the Covid-19 pandemic, however more research is needed to understand what is driving this change trend.
  • Net annual household income – Adults with a net annual household income of over £30,000 continue to have the highest formal volunteering participation rates (21%). However, the formal volunteering participation rate in this income band has fallen seven percentage points from 2022. Similarly, adults with a net annual household income of £15,000 to £30,000 have a two percentage point decrease in formal volunteer participation rates (16% in 2023 compared to 18% in 2022). Whereas, for adults with unknown or low net annual household incomes participation rates remain unchanged at 16% and are up one percentage for adults with an income up to £15,000 (15% in 2023 compared to 14% in 2022).

Demographics:

  • Gender – Female formal participation rates remain higher than males (20% vs 17% respectively). Between 2022 and 2023 male formal volunteer participation rates fell four-percentage points (double the decrease than for females).
  • Age – Younger adults in Scotland (aged 16-34) have the lowest formal volunteer participation rates for the second consecutive year (16%). Adults aged 35-59 have the highest formal volunteer participation rates of 20%. Both age groups have had a four-percentage point decrease from 2022. Interestingly, formal volunteer participation rates fell by only two percentage points for adults aged 60 and over (19% in 2023 compared to 22% in 2022).
  • Disabled adults were less likely to volunteer than non-disabled adults (16% vs. 19%), which maintains  a long-term disparity in engagement. However, volunteer participation rates decreased more for people without a disability than for people living with a disability (a decrease of four percentage points compared to only one).
  • Ethnicity – The volunteer participation rate for white Scottish adults is 21%. The ethnic group with the highest volunteer participation rate is ‘white – other British’ (27%). Adults in the ‘minority ethnic’ group have a participation rate of 22%.
  • Deprivation (as measured by Scottish Index of multiple deprivation quintiles – SIMD Q) – Unfortunately, the long-established variance in volunteering participation rates between adults in the most deprived communities (SIMD Q1) and the least deprived communities (SIMD Q5) remains (12% vs. 24% respectively). More positively, the gap has decreased by two percentage points from 2022 and five percentage points from 2019.
  • Economic Status – Adults who are permanently retired from work have the highest formal volunteering participation rates at 20% (one percentage point lower than 2022). Adults in employment had a five-percentage point decrease in formal volunteering participation rates between 2022 and 2023 (23% and 18% respectively). Adults with ‘other’ economic status had static formal volunteering participation rates of 17%.
  • Geography – Again, the previous trend of a higher volunteering participation rate for those living in rural areas (23%) compared to the rest of Scotland (17%) remains. A striking finding is the much higher engagement of volunteers in rural areas supporting their ‘Local community/neighbourhood’ (41%), compared to volunteers in urban areas (24%).

Volunteer activities:

  • Volunteering in ‘Youth and children’s activities’ outside school is the second most popular type of volunteering at 18% of volunteers in 2023.
  • Aside from volunteering in ‘local community/neighbourhood’, volunteering in ‘Emergency services, first aid and public safety’ is the only other type of volunteering to increase between 2022 and 2023 (an increase from two to three percent).
  • Volunteering in ‘Culture and heritage’ (7%), ‘Animal welfare’ (3%) and ‘Religion and belief’ (3%) have remained static
  • Volunteering in all other sectors has decreased, with the biggest decreases in ‘Hobbies and recreation’ (from 15% in 2022 to 9% in 2023), ‘Youth or children’s activities outside school’ (from 21% to 18% in 2023) and ‘Environmental protection’ (from 8% to 5% in 2023).

This data is from 2023, when the Cost-of-Living crisis was at its peak, and while things have improved we are still living in a challenging economy. The Understanding Scotland Economy Tracker report launched earlier this week (with data from November 2024) shows that 63% of Scots think the general economic conditions have worsened over the past year and 65% expect things to deteriorate further over the next 12 months. A recent inquiry into third sector funding by the Scottish parliament’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee highlighted the continuing financial challenges facing third sector organisations. We have also heard of several volunteer involving organisations reducing services or shutting altogether due to funding challenges in recent months.

So, we aren’t out of the woods yet in terms of the economy’s impact on volunteering, and with both the Scottish Budget and PVG Fee Waiver consultation outcome yet to be published, the future landscape of volunteering remains uncertain. One thing is clear, volunteering is in crisis and the time to act is now.

Debbie Maltman

Research Officer

Bethany Sikes

Research & Policy Manager