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Voluntary sector workforce: Facts and figures

Below is an overview of the size and shape of the voluntary sector workforce.

The figures below were taken from the UK Civil Society Almanac 2010: Workforce, which was produced by Skills - Third Sector in partnership with NCVO and the Third Sector Research Centre.

Civil Society

  • Number of organisations: 900,000
  • Total Income: £157 billion
  • Paid workforce (head count): 1.6 million

Voluntary Sector

Total UK voluntary sector paid workforce: 668,000

  • Full-time equivalent: 539,000

Employment Status

  • Full-time: 63%
  • Part-time: 37%
  • Permanent: 91%
  • Temporary: 9%

Gender

  • Female: 68%
  • Male: 32%

Type of activity

  • Social care: 56%
  • Housing: 5%
  • Hospital activities: 4%

Highest qualification

  • Degree or equivalent: 38%
  • No qualification: 4%

Size of workplace

  • Under 10: 32%
  • Under 25: 54%
  • 500+: 3%

Core voluntary sector

  • Number of organisations: 171,074
  • Total income: 35.5 billion
  • Staff costs: £12.1 billion
  • Staff costs (% of expenditure): 37%
  • Costs per full-time equivalent employee: £22,800
  • Organisations that employ staff: 22%

Volunteering

Number of people volunteering

  • At least once a month: 26%
  • At least once a year: 41%

Gender of people formal volunteering once a month:

  • Women: 28%
  • Men: 23%

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