A new report has shown a continued decline in the proportion of adults volunteering in Scotland, with fewer than one in five taking part in 2023.
Volunteer Scotland’s state of Scottish volunteering report, published last week, warns that participation in the country is “in crisis”, with the cost-of-living crisis preventing more people from volunteering.
Its analysis of the Scottish Household Survey data shows that only 18% of Scottish adults volunteered with a group or organisation in 2023, down from 31% in 2010.
‘Volunteering is in crisis’
Volunteer Scotland’s report says that between 2019 and 2023, formal participation rates fell from 26% to 18%, a drop of over 335,000 volunteers.
This includes a sharp decline of 138,000 formal volunteers between 2022 and 2023, when participation rates fell four percentage points from 22%.
The report also says that overall time spent volunteering with a group or organisation in Scotland declined by 28 million hours between 2018 and 2022, which equates to 79,000 fewer volunteer weeks or 18,000 fewer full-time equivalent jobs annually
Volunteer Scotland’s report says the cost-of-living crisis has made it “harder for people in Scotland to volunteer”.
In autumn 2024, 79% of third-sector organisations reported issues with volunteer recruitment while 69% said they faced issues with volunteer retention, the report says.
The biggest challenge identified by these organisations in recruiting new volunteers was “fewer people coming forward to volunteer” (69%), followed by “people have less time to volunteer” (47%) and “volunteer fatigue and burnout” (42%).
Changing demographic
The report finds that there have been “multiple shifts” in the demographic profile of Scotland’s volunteers.
It says that retired adults “have the highest volunteering participation rates by economic status for the first time” while rates among employed adults have declined partly due to “the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis”.
Between 2022-23, volunteering in small remote towns and among people earning over £30,001 dropped by seven percentage points. Meanwhile, it fell by five percentage points among ethnic minority groups and employed people.
The report says the decline in volunteering among Scotland’s ethnic minority populations might be linked to the cost-of-living crisis.
Among people aged 16-34, men, non-disabled individuals and those living in areas of moderate deprivation, volunteering fell by four percentage points
The report says “there is a well-established trend in Scotland of the most deprived areas having the lowest formal volunteer participation rates”.
Adults living in the most deprived areas of Scotland volunteer on average 12.4 hours in four weeks compared with 8.66 hours for adults in the least deprived areas, the report says.
