TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the relationship between local volunteering opportunities and the propensity to volunteer using a nationally representative survey of adults in Wales
AU - Higgs, Gary
AU - Page, Nicholas
AU - Langford, Mitchel
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). WISERD is a collaborative venture between the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, South Wales, and Swansea [grant number: ES/S012435/1]. NP is supported by the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), funded by Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales. We thank Welsh Government for granting access to the lower geographical information of NSW respondents. However, the views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any of these organizations.
PY - 2021/7/18
Y1 - 2021/7/18
N2 - This study explored the respective importance of compositional (individual) and contextual (neighbourhood) factors associated with the propensity to engage in formal volunteering among a nationally representative sample of adults in Wales, UK. To date, while certain contextual characteristics of local communities have been found to be associated with the propensity to volunteer, compositional characteristics of residents tend to be stronger predictors. Few studies to date have specifically explored associations with local volunteering opportunities. To address such gaps, this study examined the extent to which such opportunities and broader neighbourhood factors such as urban/rural status and deprivation impacted upon propensities to volunteer, adjusting for important compositional predictors of voluntarism. In summary, while volunteering was marginally associated with a measure of local voluntary opportunities, hinting that the odds of formal volunteering are greater among those living in areas with more local voluntary organizations, this association was not retained following adjustment for other factors. This suggests that much of the area-level variance is explained by spatial variations in compositional factors. Further research is needed to examine determinants of volunteering behaviour at a range of spatial scales by drawing on wider measures of volunteering opportunities, before the factors at play can be fully understood.
AB - This study explored the respective importance of compositional (individual) and contextual (neighbourhood) factors associated with the propensity to engage in formal volunteering among a nationally representative sample of adults in Wales, UK. To date, while certain contextual characteristics of local communities have been found to be associated with the propensity to volunteer, compositional characteristics of residents tend to be stronger predictors. Few studies to date have specifically explored associations with local volunteering opportunities. To address such gaps, this study examined the extent to which such opportunities and broader neighbourhood factors such as urban/rural status and deprivation impacted upon propensities to volunteer, adjusting for important compositional predictors of voluntarism. In summary, while volunteering was marginally associated with a measure of local voluntary opportunities, hinting that the odds of formal volunteering are greater among those living in areas with more local voluntary organizations, this association was not retained following adjustment for other factors. This suggests that much of the area-level variance is explained by spatial variations in compositional factors. Further research is needed to examine determinants of volunteering behaviour at a range of spatial scales by drawing on wider measures of volunteering opportunities, before the factors at play can be fully understood.
KW - Formal Volunteering
KW - neighbourhood Effects
KW - National Survey for Wales
KW - GIS
KW - logistic regression
U2 - 10.1080/17448689.2021.1923903
DO - 10.1080/17448689.2021.1923903
M3 - Article
SN - 1744-8689
VL - 17
SP - 101
EP - 118
JO - Journal of Civil Society
JF - Journal of Civil Society
IS - 2
ER -