Young People In Scotland Survey High level summary of survey evidence

March 2015

Kathleen Doyle and Gemma Jackson

Volunteer Scotland, Policy and Research

kathleen.doyle@volunteerscotland.org.uk gemma.jackson@volunteerscotland.org.uk

www.volunteerscotland.org.uk @VolScot

Key points to cover…….

Results: Current Volunteering

levels of volunteering frequency routes into volunteering

Results: Future Volunteering

perceptions spare time activities encouragement to volunteer areas of interest

LEVELS OF VOLUNTEERING

“Thinking back over the last 12 months, have you given up any of your time to help out with things like clubs,

campaigns or organisations without being paid?”

Levels of Volunteering

45% of young people have formally volunteered, with the majority volunteering in their spare time

9% of young people volunteer in both their spare time and in school time

Yes, in my own spare time

Yes, in school time No, but would consider doing so

No, and would not consider doing so

Other0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

34%

20%18%

14%

23%

45%

32%

23% Yes

Yes

No

Other

Levels of Volunteering

More girls volunteer in their spare time than boys and girls are more likely to consider volunteering in the future

19% of boys expressed no interest in volunteering compared to only 9% of girls

16-18 year olds are twice as likely to volunteer in school time than younger age groups

11-15 year olds are more likely to consider volunteering in the future than 16-18 year olds

FREQUENCY OF VOLUNTEERING

“How often have you volunteered in the last 12 months?”

Frequency of Volunteering

59% of young volunteers are volunteering on a regular basis (at least once a month)

38% of young volunteers are volunteering on an occasional basis

No more than once a year

A few times a year

Five or six times a year

At least once a month

About once a week

A few times a week

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

11%

19%

7%

13%

27%

19%

Frequency of Volunteering

Girls are more likely to volunteer regularly (66%) than boys (52%)

Boys are more likely to volunteer occasionally (46%) than girls (31%)

Frequency of volunteering increases with age, with 72% of 16-18 year olds volunteering regularly, compared to 49% of 11-13 year olds

Occasional volunteering is highest amongst 11-13 year olds (47%) and 14-15 year olds (40%)

ROUTES INTO VOLUNTEERING

“Did any of these people help you to begin volunteering? They might have done this by telling you

about things that you could do to help, showing you how to get started, or just by encouraging you”.

Routes into Volunteering

Parents/guardians are most likely to help young people into volunteering, followed by teachers and then friends

Only 6% of young people start volunteering on their own

Neighbour

Someone at local job centre

Someone else

Did it on my own

Community organisation

Scheme Rep (DofE)

Other family member

Someone at a club/group

Friend

Teacher

Parent/guardian

0% 5% 10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

0%

1%

2%

6%

10%

11%

18%

24%

30%

32%

41%

Routes into Volunteering

Girls are more likely to be influenced by their friends into volunteering (35%) than boys (25%)

The influence of family and friends is highest amongst 11-13 year olds and decreases with age

The influence of teachers increases with age, peaking at 45% for 16-18 year olds, compared to around 25% for the younger age groups

PERCEPTIONS OF VOLUNTEERING

“When you think about volunteering, which of these words and phrases comes to mind?”

Positive Negative

Young people have a very positive perception of volunteering

A high proportion of young people identify with the traditional ‘altruistic’ concept of volunteering (e.g. helping other people and being a good citizen)

Few young people have a negative perception of volunteering This has improved from 2009, when 19% of 11-16 year olds thought it was boring and 18% ‘goody-goody’ (Being Young in Scotland, YouthLink Scotland, 2009)

Perceptions of Volunteering

Helpin

g peo

ple

Good citi

zen

Skills

/exp

erie

nce

Mak

ing a

diff

eren

ce

Is in

tere

stin

g

Mak

ing fr

iends

Havin

g a g

ood tim

e0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

78%

58% 56%50%

43%32%

15%

Boring

Goody-goody

Time

consu

min

g

Old fa

shio

ned0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

10% 9% 8%4%

Perceptions of Volunteering

Girls are more likely to identify with the altruistic notions of volunteering, whilst boys have more negative perceptions

Girls are more likely to see volunteering as an opportunity to make friends (38%) than boys (26%)

16-18 year olds are more likely to identify with the altruistic notions of volunteering than younger age groups

Volunteering as a way to develop skills/gain experience increases with age (46% of 11-13 year olds compared to 71% of 16-18 year olds)

SPARE TIME ACTIVITIES

“Which of these activities would you most like to do in your spare time?”

Spare Time Activities

% of all young people

% of young people

54

20

8

8

7

14

12

16

13

5

4

52

29

27

25

18

17

18

9

4

8

6

Girls Boys

Go to sports clubs, gyms, exercise or dance groups 52

Help out your friends/neighbours 24

Go to drama, music or singing groups 18

Volunteer with a local group or charity 16

Go to an art or crafts club 12

Take part in youth groups 16

Go to under 18s club/venues 15

None of these 12

Take part in a computer club or group 8

Take part in campaigns or demonstrations 6

Go to a church/other religious group 5

Spare Time Activities

Girls are most interested in creative activities (drama, music and art) and both formal and informal volunteering

Boys are more interested in computer club (13%) than girls (4%)

Interest in volunteering with a local group/charity increases with age, with 24% of 16-18 year olds interested compared to 14% of younger groups

Youth groups, drama/music and computer clubs are of most interest to 11-13 year olds

VOLUNTEERING – ‘INFLUENCES’

“Which of these things would encourage you to do any/more volunteering in the future?”

Volunteering – ‘Influences’

Volunteering with friends would most encourage young people to volunteer, followed by if it would improve their career prospects

18% of young people would be more encouraged to volunteer if they could do so in school time, compared to 11% in their own time

Help to find opportunities

Volunteer with family

Volunteer outside school time

In charge of own volunteering

Consistency

Volunteer in school time

If someone asked me

'Taster' session

Close to home

Improve skills

Improve career prospects

Volunteer with friends

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

9%

9%

11%

11%

13%

18%

19%

21%

29%

29%

37%

56%

Volunteering – ‘Influences’

More girls want to volunteer with their friends (62%) than boys (49%)

More girls would consider volunteering in their spare time (16%) than boys (7%)

A quarter of all young people would be more interested in volunteering if they could do so close to where they live

11-13 year olds are more interested in being able to volunteer with their family than older age groups

AREAS OF INTEREST

“In which of the following areas would you say you would be most interested in volunteering with?”

Areas of Interest

Young people are most interested in sport-related volunteering, followed by helping children or young people in school

Hobbies, arts and animal welfare also feature within the top 5 areas of interest

Religious groups

Local community groups

Environmental protection

Political groups

Justice and human rights

First aid or safety

Older people/the elderly

Health or disabilities

Wildlife protection

Children or YP's groups (outside school)

Animal welfare

Hobbies/arts/recreation/social clubs

Children or YP (in school)

Sport or exercise

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

3%

4%

5%

7%

11%

12%

14%

14%

15%

19%

22%

22%

26%

34%

Areas of Interest

Sports and exercise are of most interest to boys (43% compared to 26% of girls)

Helping out with children, young people and animal welfare are of most interest to girls

Interest in volunteering within areas of health, disabilities, First Aid and safety increases with age

An interest in activism (e.g. political groups, environmental protection and Justice and Human Rights) also increases with age

Overall Themes Scotland’s young people are very ‘volunteer’ active, and could

create a step change in volunteer growth for generations to come 

Young people are particularly interested in sport-related volunteering opportunities and volunteering with their friends - growth will come from turning interest into action

Age is a key factor – a tailored approach to volunteer development and involvement is needed to take account of (and challenge) different views and interests

Boys and girls current and future interest in volunteering is different - playing out some gender stereotypes

• IPSOS Mori Survey (2014):

– data collected from a representative sample of over 2,000 young people

– aged 11-18 years– carried out across 50 state-sector secondary schools in

Scotland– self-completion survey– conducted in mixed ability classes such as personal and

social education (P.S.E)– produced large representative dataset which allows for

robust sub-group analysis

Technical Note