Volunteering within a social housing community

Dr Tim Walker, Dr Tamaryn Menneer, Prof Catherine Leyshon, Dr Michael Leyshon, Dr Andrew James Williams, Dr Markus Mueller, Dr Tim Taylor

Abstract

In general research demonstrates that deprivation, education, health, and well-being are determinants of volunteering, and that volunteering can play an important role in building stronger communities and provides many benefits for individual health and well-being. This study concentrates on the effects of physical and mental health and well-being as predictors when the aspect of socio-economic impact has been minimised.

It utilises a unique data-set from a UK Housing Association community with generally high levels of deprivation. The study found that social housing tenants with a higher education level were more likely to formally and informally volunteer, which is in line with resource theory. In contrast to previous findings, physical health was not significantly related to volunteering.

Key finding

Our key finding is that mental wellbeing, rather than physical health or mental health, is a significant predictor of volunteering. There was also some evidence that volunteering rates increased with higher levels of deprivation. In line with previous studies, education and age were significant predictors of volunteering. We found mental well-being to be a significant predictor of informal volunteering behaviour.

Implications

Worldwide, volunteering is a policy priority and has also become important to housing associations as a mechanism for social investment. However, the positive impacts have not been fully realised for disadvantaged or socially excluded groups, which often live within social housing. Responding to calls for an analytical focus on ‘inequality in volunteering’, this study contributes to new research by examining the relationship between health, well-being and volunteering behaviours amongst a social housing community. This study provides evidence that, in this community, the potential barriers to volunteering of physical and mental health have been mitigated by local geographies of accessibility and of supportive and inclusivity policies of housing associations.

Published in Voluntas: Link to Paper