Main Stories
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In 2022, over two-fifths of all young people (44%) had volunteered with
clubs, campaigns or organisations. This is a decrease on the proportion
volunteering in 2019 (49%).
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Around a third of all young people said they did not volunteer but would
like to do so in the future (35%) whilst around a fifth (21%) said they
did not volunteer and would not consider doing so in the future.
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Boys (42%) were less likely to volunteer than girls (46%), as were young
Catholics (43%) compared to young Protestants (47%).
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Just under two-fifths of young people who participated in volunteering
(39%) volunteered about once a week or more.
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The top 5 most frequently cited benefits of having participated in
volunteering were “learning new skills”, “feeling part of a team”,
“increased confidence”, “feeling happier” and “making new friends”.
Introduction
The Department for Communities (DfC) is the lead department for
volunteering. DfC is responsible for the development of voluntary and
community sector strategies and policies and both funds and works in
partnership with the sector.
Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey
This report presents the findings from the 2022 Young Persons’ Behaviour
and Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) in relation to experience of volunteering
by young people in Northern Ireland which are used to inform the
development, monitoring and evaluation of policy. More information
relating to YPBAS, methodology, definitions and the interpretation of
the figures can be found in the Definitions & technical
notes section. Data tables are available in
Excel
and
ODS
format. The questions that were asked in YPBAS 2022 are available
here.
Lead statistician: Clair Stewart
Participation in volunteering
In 2022, over two-fifths of all young people (44%) had volunteered with
clubs, campaigns or organisations. This is a decrease on the proportion
volunteering in 2019 (49%). Boys were less likely to have participated
in volunteering within the last year (42%) compared to girls (46%).
The proportions of young people who had participated in volunteering in
the last year were similar across school year groups and ranged from
just under half of all young people in Year 8 (47%) to 42% of young
people in Year 12.
Young people from the Catholic community were less likely to have
volunteered in the past year (43%) compared to those from the Protestant
community (47%). Participation figures were similar for young people who
were entitled to free school meals (43%) compared to those who were not
(44%) and for young people who have a disability (43%) compared to those
who do not have a disability (45%).
In comparison with 2019, the proportions of young people who
participated in volunteering in 2022 were lower for boys, girls, those
in Year 10, 11 and 12, those from the Catholic community, those who do
not have a disability and those not entitled to free school meals.
Volunteering inside and outside of school
Just over a third of all young people had volunteered in their own spare
time (35%) whilst around one in every seven (15%) had volunteered in
school time. Around a third of all young people said they did not
volunteer but would like to do so in the future (35%) whilst around a
fifth (21%) said they did not volunteer and would not consider doing so
in the future.
The proportions of boys and girls who had volunteered in school time
were similar (14% and 16% respectively). However, the proportion of boys
who had volunteered in their own spare time (32%) was lower than girls
(37%). Boys (28%) were twice as likely as girls (14%) to say that they
did not volunteer and would not consider doing so in the future.
When looking at volunteering in school time, there was a decrease in
the proportion of pupils who had volunteered in the last year as year
group increased, with 21% in Year 8 compared to 10% in Year 12. The
proportions of those who had volunteered outside school were similar
across year groups with around one third or more volunteering. The
proportion of those who did not volunteer and would not consider doing
so in the future tended to increase as year group increased, with 16% in
Year 8 compared to 25% in Year 12.
Young people from the Catholic community were less likely to have
volunteered in their own time (34%) compared to those from the
Protestant community (38%). A higher proportion of young people entitled
to free school meals did not volunteer and would not consider doing so
in the future (27%) compared to those not entitled (20%), whilst a lower
proportion of those entitled to free school meals did not volunteer but
would like to in the future (30%) compared to those not entitled (36%).
Areas of volunteering
The most frequently cited areas where young people volunteered in the
last year were “sport or exercise” (64%), “children or young people’s
activities (outside school)” (36%), “hobbies/arts clubs” (21%),
“church/faith based” (17%) and “local community or neighbourhood groups”
(15%). Sport or exercise was the most popular area cited by both boys
(71%) and girls (57%).
There were differences between the proportions of boys and girls citing
various responses. Girls were more likely than boys to state “children
or young people’s activities (outside school)”, “hobbies/arts clubs”,
“local community or neighbourhood groups” and “children or young people
(in school)” as areas that they participated in volunteering. In
comparison a higher proportion of boys stated “sport or exercise”.
When looking at year group, disability and entitlement to free school
meals, differences can be seen across areas of volunteering. Higher
proportions of young people from the Catholic community said they
volunteered in the areas of “sport or exercise” (69%) and “hobbies/arts
clubs” (23%) than those from the Protestant community (59% and 18%
respectively) whereas a higher proportion of young people from the
Protestant community volunteered in the area of “church/faith based”
compared to those from the Catholic community (30% and 9% respectively).
Frequency of volunteering
Around one in every six (17%) of those who participated in volunteering
last year did so a few times a week whilst around a fifth volunteered
about once a week or at least once a month (22% and 19% respectively).
Similar proportions of boys and girls participated in volunteering about
once a week or more (36% and 41% respectively). However, boys were more
likely to have volunteered no more than once a year compared to girls
(11% and 7% respectively).
The proportion of young people from the Catholic community who
volunteered about once a week or more (36%) was lower compared to the
proportion of those from the Protestant community (44%). When looking at
year group, disability and entitlement to free school meals, similar
proportions within each category participated in volunteering about once
a week or more.
Benefits of volunteering
The top 5 most frequently cited benefits of having participated in
volunteering were “learning new skills” (68%), “feeling part of a team”
(48%), “increased confidence” (47%), “feeling happier” (46%) and “making
new friends” (42%).
There were differences between the proportions of boys and girls citing
various responses. Girls were more likely than boys to state “learning
new skills”, “feeling part of a team”, “making new friends”, “feeling
appreciated”, “feeling I’ve made a difference”, “feeling better about
myself” and “feeling I’ve improved my job prospects” as benefits that
they experienced from volunteering.
Circle of friends
Over two-fifths (43%) of young people said that since beginning their
volunteer work their circle of friends had increased whilst over half
(53%) said that it had stayed the same and 4% said that it had
decreased. Similar proportions of boys and girls said their circle of
friends had increased since taking part in volunteering (41% and 45%
respectively).
When looking at year group, the proportion saying that their friends had
increased fell from 48% of those in Year 8 to 39% of those in Year 12.
Similar proportions within the categories of religion, disability and
entitlement to free school meals said that their circle of friends had
increased.
Factors that would encourage volunteering
The most frequently cited factors that would encourage young people to
participate more in volunteering were “having fun” (70%), “making new
friends” (54%), “learning new skills” (53%), “feeling happier” (50%) and
“improved confidence” (47%).
There were differences between the proportions of boys and girls citing
various responses. With the exception of “finding a paid job”, girls
were more likely than boys to say that each of the factors listed would
encourage them to participate in volunteering.
Definitions & technical notes
Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey
The Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and research
Agency was commissioned by a consortium of government departments and
public bodies to design, conduct and report on a study of the behaviour
and attitudes of young people in Northern Ireland. The Young Persons’
Behaviour and Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) is a school-based survey carried
out among 11-16 year olds and covers a wide range of topics relevant to
the lives of young people today. The main aim of the YPBAS is to gain an
insight into, and understanding of, their behaviour and lifestyle. It
also aims to influence various government policies and practices
relating to young people and to facilitate access to research findings
and expertise.
Questionnaire
Two versions of the questionnaire were used to accommodate demand for
topics on the 2022 survey. The content and structure of each
questionnaire was agreed in consultation with clients. Schools were
randomly assigned one version of the questionnaire. A copy of the DfC
questions can be accessed at:
DfC
Questions on the Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey 2022
Sample and response rate
The Department of Education (DE) provided CSU with a list of all
post-primary schools in Northern Ireland (excluding independent schools
and those which catered solely for pupils with special needs). All 192
post-primary schools, were contacted and invited to participate. Seventy
four schools agreed to participate in the study, resulting in a response
rate of 39%. One class in each of the five year groups (years 8-12) was
then randomly selected to take part in the study. A total of 3,726
pupils were surveyed using Version A (response rate 84%) and 3,772
pupils using Version B of the questionnaire (response rate 85%). DfC’s
questions on engagement of culture, arts and leisure were included in
Version A.
Statistical significance in this report
The result presented in this report are based on data which has been
weighted by year group, gender and religion in order to reflect the
composition of the Northern Ireland post-primary population. Since a
three stage sample design was used: schools, classes and pupils, the
required assumption of random sampling was not met for significance
testing. In 2013, standard errors were calculated for some of the
variables in the survey using a formula for complex samples. However,
when these were compared with standard errors calculated using the
formula for random samples there was little difference (see
Technical
Report). Given those findings, and the methodology is consistent
with that used in 2013, tests of statistical significance in this
bulletin have been carried out using the formula for random samples.
Any statements in this report regarding differences between groups such
as different years and whether young people are entitled to free school
meals, are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This
means that we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups
are actual differences and have not just arisen by chance. Both the base
numbers and the sizes of the percentages have an effect on statistical
significance. Therefore on occasion, a difference between two groups may
be statistically significant while the same difference in percentage
points between two other groups may not be statistically significant.
The reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer
the percentages are to 0 or 100, the smaller the standard errors. This
leads to increased precision of the estimates which increases the
likelihood that the difference between the proportions is actually
significant and did not just arise by chance.
Other notes
The following should be noted when interpreting figures and tables:
Percentages less than 0.5% are denoted by ‘0’ and where there are no
responses, they are denoted by ‘-’.
Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
Percentages may not add to 100% for questions where multiple responses
are allowed.
Detailed tabulations are not provided where the number of respondents is
too small to allow meaningful analysis.
The base number of responses to each question, which is shown in each
table, is the unweighted count. The base may vary due to some
respondents not answering certain questions.
Official Statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics
Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and
value in the
Code of
Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics
should adhere to. Contact us directly with any comments about how we
meet these standards -
email:psu@communities-ni.gov.uk.
Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing
regulation@statistics.gov.uk
or via the OSR
website.
Definition
Volunteering — Given up any of your time to volunteer or help out
with things like clubs, campaigns or organisations in the 12 months
prior to the YPBAS.
