Working in the Voluntary S ector

1. Working in the Voluntary Sector Thoria Mohamed May 2012

2. Definition of the voluntary sector • Registered charities that are voluntary, formal, independent, not for profit, self-governed, and for public benefit • A major employer (2.7% of the UK workforce) compare to: • 25% who work for public sector employers • 72% who work for private sector employers • Higher level of job satisfaction amongst employees within the voluntary sector, than in both the public and private sectors

3. Voluntary sector funding • Lottery grants • Grants made by central government departments and local authorities • Trust • Donation • Local regional and national fundraising activities

4. The Current picture of the sector • Government proposed cap on tax reliefs for charities • Increased demand and reduced funding and support • Fundraising has been harder in the past year • Government spending cutshas result in a net reduction across all income streams experienced by the majority of charities • One fifth of charities are now considering merger as a means of survival

5. Number of people working in the voluntary sector • 765,000 people employed in the UK voluntary sector • The current recession had an impact on employment as there is a significant decrease of 70,000 people working in the voluntary sector (8.7%) has been shown 2011

6. The impact of recession on employment in the voluntary sector • Anumber of voluntary sector work programmes and funding streams came to an end by March 2012 • Around one-third of voluntary sector leaders had actual plans to decrease paid staff within their organisation over the next three months

7. The work force in the voluntary sector • More than two-thirds (68%) of the voluntary sector workforce are women • Though they are under-representative at the higher managerial/professional level • Large number of voluntary sector employees living in London and the South-East (high number of charities who have headquarters within this area), though activities are throughout the UK and across the world

8. Type of work • More than half (57%) of the voluntary sector workforce were employed in health and social work • Examples are, child day-care, social work activities for the elderly and disabled, residential care activities for people with learning disabilities, mental health and substance abuse

9. Jobs security in the voluntary sector • (91%) voluntary sector employees were on permanent contracts. Comparable to the private and public sectors had a higher proportion of employees on permanent contracts (95% and 92% respectively) • More than six in every ten (62%) temporary workers within the voluntary sector were on a fixed-term contract • Within the voluntary sector, 35% of those employees on temporary contracts were on a contract lasting less than one year. An additional 18% of temporary employees within the voluntary sector were on contracts lasting between one and two years

10. Skills required in the voluntary sector? • Voluntary sector employees were highly qualified • (37%) holding a degree level qualification or higher • Though these qualifications were not totally related to job roles • (18%) of voluntary sector employers reported that they have staff with skills gaps

11. Skills required for the voluntary sector? • Voluntary sector employers who had skills gaps within their organisation were more likely to report skills gaps within manager and administrative/clerical staff • The main causes were lack of experience or the staff being recently recruited, lacking of motivation, the inability of the workforce to keep up with change, and a failure to train and develop staff • Skills gaps within the voluntary organisations reported were both technical, practical or job-specific skills gaps as well as problem solving, team working and management skills gaps

12. Training opportunities • The majority of voluntary organisations (56%) provided both on-the-job and off-the-job training in their organisation. • Training for staff of all grades, however managers are significantly more likely to receive training than other staff

13. Working patterns in the voluntary sector • Full-time employees in the voluntary sector were contracted to work on average 37.7 hours a week, similar to the public sector at 37.9 hours. Private sector full-time employees worked a slightly longer week of 40.8 hours • 38% of the sector workforcewere working part-time. In contrast 30% of the public sector and 25% of the private sector were employed part-time • Nearly half (45%) of the women employed within the voluntary sector were employed part-time compared to 22% of men. • Men working within the voluntary sector were more likely to be employed part-time than in the private and public sectors

14. State of pay in the voluntary sector • (78%) of voluntary sector part-time employees did not want a full-time job • Just over one in ten (12%) voluntary sector part-time employees were working part-time because they could not find a full-time job

15. State of pay in the voluntary sector • The gross hourly pay within the voluntary sector is£12.48, almost identical to the private sector (£12.49) but lower than in the public sector (£13.84) • There was a clear difference between male and female gross hourly pay across all sectors • Women on average were paid 36% less than men (per hour) in the voluntary sector, the same as in the private sector whereas in the public sector the gap was 20% • (17%) voluntary sector workers was a trade union or staff association member. This is higher than in the private sector (12%) but much lower than in the public sector (55%)

16. My contact Thoria Mohamed Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC) thoria.m@c3sc.org.uk Tel/ 029 2048 5722