Official Statistics

Community Life Survey 2023/24: Volunteering and charitable giving

Published 4 December 2024

Applies to England

1. Formal volunteering

In the Community Life Survey, formal volunteering refers to those who have given unpaid help to groups or clubs, for example, leading a group, administrative support, mutual aid groups or befriending or mentoring people. The findings in this section and in the 2023/24 data tables are based on all who engage in some form of formal volunteering.

1.1 Headline findings

In 2023/24:

16% of adults (approximately 7.5 million people in England) had taken part in formal volunteering at least once a month in the last 12 months, in line with rates in 2021/22 (also 16%).  

Rates of participation in formal volunteering at least once a month have declined since push-to-web data collection started on the Community Life Survey in 2013/14, when rates were 27%. This includes a notable decrease between rates in 2019/20 (23%) and 2020/21 (17%), when rates may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated restrictions and guidance introduced in the UK. However, we cannot be definitive that any changes seen can be attributed to COVID-19. Participation rates in 2023/24 were the lowest recorded since push-to-web data collection started on the Community Life Survey.

In 2023/24:

28% of adults (approximately 12.9 million people in England) reported taking part in formal volunteering at least once in the last year, in line with rates in 2021/22 (27%). 

Rates of participation in formal volunteering at least once a year have broadly followed the same trend as rates of participation at least once a month, with a decline in rates over time since push-to-web data collection started in 2013/14 when rates were 45%. Similarly to formal volunteering at least once a month, there was a notable decrease between 2019/20 (37%) and 2020/21 (30%). See figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Percentage of adults (16+) engaged in formal volunteering at least once a month, and at least once in the last year, England: 2013/14 to 2023/24 (Base: All adults)

1.2 Who participated in regular formal volunteering?

Age

There was a lot of variation in the level of engagement in formal volunteering at least once a month between adults of different ages. For example, adults aged 25 to 34 (11%) were less likely to have participated in formal volunteering at least once a month compared with adults from all other age groups (15% to 23%). Adults aged 65 to 74 (23%) were more likely to have participated in formal volunteering at least once a month than adults from all other age groups (11% to 21%), whilst adults aged 75 and over (21%) were more likely to have participated than adults aged 16 to 64 (11% to 16%).

Disability Status

There were no differences observed in participation in formal volunteering at least once a month between disabled and non-disabled adults.

Sex

There were no differences observed in participation in formal volunteering at least once a month between male and female adults.  

Gender identity ^{[footnote 1]}

Adults whose gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth were more likely to participate in formal volunteering at least once a month (20%) compared with adults whose gender identity was the same as their sex registered at birth (16%).

Sexual Orientation

Adults from the ‘other’ sexual orientation classification (22%) were more likely to participate in formal volunteering at least once a month than adults from all other sexual orientation classifications (17% to 18%).

Religion

There was a lot of variation in the proportion of adults from different religious groups that engaged in formal volunteering once a month. For example, Jewish adults (28%) and adults from ‘any other’ religious group (25%) were more likely to participate in formal volunteering at least once a month than adults from all other religious groups (13% to 20%), with the exception of Buddhist adults (21%). Hindu adults, Sikh adults and non-religious adults (all 13%) were less likely to participate than adults of all other religious groups (20% to 28%), with the exception of Muslim adults (15%). 

Ethnicity ^{[footnote 2]}

Compared with the England average (16%), levels of formal volunteering at least once a month in the last 12 months were higher for adults from the mixed White and Black African (22%), African (21%), Irish (20%) and White British^{[footnote 3]} (17%) ethnic groups. Adults from the Chinese (11%), mixed White and Black Caribbean (12%), ‘any other’ Asian background (12%), ‘any other’ White background (13%), Pakistani (13%), and Indian (14%) ethnic groups were less likely to engage in formal volunteering at least once a month than the England average.

Socio-economic classification

Adults from the higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations (21%) were more likely to have formally volunteered at least once a month than adults from all other socio-economic classifications (11% to 16%). Adults from intermediate occupations (16%) were more likely to have formally volunteered than adults from the never worked and long term unemployed (12%) and the routine and manual operations (11%).

Index of multiple deprivation

There was some variation in the proportion of adults from different deprivation deciles that engaged in formal volunteering once a month. For example, adults living in the highest (the least deprived) decile (22%) were more likely to have formally volunteered at least once a month compared to adults from all other deciles (10% to 20%). Adults from the lowest (most deprived) decile (10%) were less likely to have formally volunteered than adults in all other deciles (12% to 22%). 

Population density

Adults from rural areas were more likely to have formally volunteered at least once a month (21%) compared with adults from urban areas (15%). 

1.3 Geographical findings

Regional differences

Figure 1.2 shows that compared with the England average (16%), adults in the South West (20%), South East (18%) and East of England (17%) ITL1 regions were more likely to have formally volunteered at least once a month, whilst adults in the North East (13%), North West (14%), West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and East Midlands (all 15%) ITL1 regions were less likely to have formally volunteered than the England average.

Local Authority differences^{[footnote 4]}

Levels of formal volunteering at least once a month were in line with the England average in 191 (65%) local authorities, with above the England average in 59 (20%) local authorities, and below the England average in 46 (16%) local authorities, although some of these differences were small.

In general, patterns of formal volunteering at least once a month at the regional level were also observed at the Local Authority level. However, there were some exceptions:

Levels of formal volunteering at least once a month were lower than the England average in the North West (14%) ITL1 region, but higher than the England average in the North West local authority of Westmorland and Furness (23%).

Levels of formal volunteering at least once a month were lower than the England average in the West Midlands (15%) ITL1 region, but higher than the England average in the West Midlands local authorities of Malvern Hills (23%), Stratford-on-Avon (22%) and Warwick (21%).

Levels of formal volunteering at least once a month were lower than the England average in the Yorkshire and the Humber (15%) ITL1 region, but higher than the England average in the Yorkshire and the Humber local authorities of North Yorkshire (21%) and York (21%).

Levels of formal volunteering were lower than the England average in the East Midlands (15%) ITL1 region, but higher than the England average in the East Midlands local authorities of Derbyshire Dales (29%), Harborough (23%), Rutland (23%) and High Peak (21%).

Levels of formal volunteering were higher than the England average in the East of England (17%) ITL1 region, but lower than the England average in the East of England local authorities of Great Yarmouth (12%) and Luton (11%).

Levels of formal volunteering were higher than the England average in the South East (18%) ITL1 region, but lower than the England average in the South East local authorities of Medway (13%), Crawley (12%) and Rushmoor (12%).

Levels of formal volunteering were higher than the England average in the South West (20%) ITL1 region, but lower than the England average in the South West local authority of Gloucester (12%).

Figure 1.2: Participation in formal volunteering at least once a month in the last 12 months, by region and local authority, England: 2023/24 (Base: All adults)

The patterns of variation by subgroup for participation in formal volunteering at least once a year were similar to those for monthly formal volunteering.

2. Informal volunteering

In the Community Life Survey, informal volunteering is defined as giving unpaid help to individuals who are not a relative. For example, babysitting or caring for children, keeping in touch with someone who has difficulty getting out and about, or helping someone with their household tasks such as cleaning, laundry or shopping.

2.1 Headline findings

In 2023/24:

24% of adults (approximately 11.2 million people in England) had taken part in informal volunteering at least once a month.   

This represents a 2 percentage point decrease from levels in 2021/22 (26%) and continues a decline observed since 2020/21 when rates were the highest recorded by the Community Life Survey (33%) since push-to-web data collection began. See figure 2.1.

In 2023/24: 

44% of adults (approximately 20.5 million people in England) had taken part in informal volunteering at least once in the last year, in line with rates in 2021/22 (46%), but lower than in 2020/21 (54%). 

Rates of participation in informal volunteering in 2023/24 were the lowest recorded since push-to-web data collection started on the Community Life Survey in 2013/14.

Figure 2.1: Percentage of adults (16+) engaged in informal volunteering at least once a month, and at least once in the last year, England: 2013/14 to 2023/24 (Base: All adults)

2.2 Who participated in regular informal volunteering?

Age

There was some variation in the level of engagement in informal volunteering at least once a month between adults of different ages. For example, rates of informal volunteering at least once a month were significantly higher among adults aged 16 to 24 (28%), 65 to 74 (29%), and adults aged 75 and over (28%), compared to adults aged 25 to 64 (21% to 24%). 

Disability Status

Disabled adults were more likely to participate in informal volunteering at least once a month (28%) than non-disabled adults (23%).

Sex

Female adults were more likely to participate in informal volunteering at least once a month (27%) than male adults (22%).  

Gender identity^{[footnote 1]}

Adults whose gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth were more likely to participate in informal volunteering at least once a month (32%) than adults whose gender identity was the same as their sex registered at birth (24%).

Sexual Orientation

Adults from the ‘other’ sexual orientation classification (34%) and bisexual adults (30%) were more likely to participate in informal volunteering at least once a month than gay or lesbian adults (26%) and heterosexual or straight adults (24%). 

Religion

There was a lot of variation in the proportion of adults from different religious groups that engaged in informal volunteering once a month. For example, Jewish adults (36%) were more likely to participate in informal volunteering at least once a month compared with adults from all other religious groups, with the exception of adults from ‘any other’ religious group (31%). Hindu (22%), non-religious adults (22%) and Sikh (21%) adults were less likely to participate than adults from all other religious groups (27% to 36%). Christian adults (27%) were more likely to participate in informal volunteering at least once a month than Hindu and Sikh adults, but less likely than Jewish, Buddhist (29%) and Muslim (30%) adults.

Ethnicity^{[footnote 2]}

Compared with the England average (24%), levels of informal volunteering at least once a month in the last 12 months were higher for adults from the Gypsy or Irish Traveller (42%), Arab (36%), mixed White and Black African (33%), Black African (31%), Bangladeshi (31%), Black Caribbean (29%), Irish (28%) and Pakistani (28%) ethnic groups. Adults from the Chinese (18%) ethnic group and ‘any other’ Asian background (21%) ethnic groups were less likely to have participated in informal volunteering at least once a month in the last 12 months than the England average.

Socio-economic classification

Adults from routine and manual occupations (23%) were less likely to have participated in informal volunteering at least once a month than adults from any other socio-economic classifications (all 25%). 

Index of multiple deprivation

There were no differences observed in participation in informal volunteering at least once a month between the adults living in the different deciles of deprivation.

Population density

Adults from rural areas (25%) were more likely to have participated in informal volunteering at least once a month compared with adults from urban areas (24%).

2.3 Geographical findings

Regional differences

No variability was observed in levels of informal volunteering at least once a month between the regions and the national average.

Local Authority differences^{[footnote 4]}

There was little variability in levels of informal volunteering at least once a month by local authority. Levels of informal volunteering at least once a month were in line with the England average in 274 (93%) local authorities, above the England average in 10 (3%) and below the England average in 12 (4%). See figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: Participation in informal volunteering at least once a month in the last 12 months, by region and local authority, England: 2023/24 (Base: All adults)

The patterns of variation by subgroup for participation in informal volunteering at least once a year were broadly similar to those for monthly informal volunteering, although there was less variation by age and more variation by region. By region, rates of informal volunteering at least once in the last year were higher than the national average in the South East and South West ITL1 regions, and lower than the average in the North East and North West ITL1 regions.

3. Formal and informal volunteering

This measure covers participation in any formal or informal volunteering in the last 12 months.

3.1 Headline findings

As shown in figure 3.1, in 2023/24:

33% of adults in England (approximately 15.1 million people) had taken part in either formal or informal volunteering at least once a month.    

This represents a slight decrease of one percentage point from rates in 2021/22 (34%), and is the lowest recorded by the Community Life Survey for this measure since push-to-web data collection began.

54% of adults in England (approximately 24.8 million people) had taken part in either formal or informal volunteering at least once in the last 12 months, in line with levels in 2021/22 (55%).

Figure 3.1: Percentage of adults (16+) engaged in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month, and at least once in the last year, England: 2013/14 to 2023/24 (Base: All adults)

3.2 Who participated in formal or informal volunteering?

Age

There was some variation in the level of engagement in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month between adults of different ages.  Reflecting individual rates of formal and informal volunteering at least once a month, participation in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month was higher among adults aged 65 to 74 (40%) than adults from all other age groups (27% to 37%). Adults aged 16 to 24 (36%) and 75 and over (37%) were more likely to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than adults aged 25 to 64 (27% to 32%). 

Disability Status

Disabled adults (35%) were more likely to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than non-disabled adults (33%). This was in line with findings on informal volunteering at least once a month.

Sex

Female adults were more likely to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than male adults (35% and 31% respectively). This is reflective of findings on informal volunteering at least once a month.

Gender identity^{[footnote 1]}

Adults whose gender identity is different from their sex registered at birth (42%) were more likely to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than adults whose gender identity is the same as their sex registered at birth (33%). This is in line with the observations on the separate formal volunteering and informal volunteering findings.

Sexual Orientation

Adults from the ‘other’ sexual orientation classification (43%) and bisexual adults (40%) were more likely to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than gay or lesbian adults (35%) or heterosexual or straight adults (33%).

Religion

There was a lot of variation in the proportion of adults from different religious groups that engaged in any formal or informal volunteering once a month. For example, Jewish adults (47%) were more likely to have participated in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month compared with adults of other religious groups (27% to 37%), and non-religious adults (30%), with the exception of adults from ‘any other’ religious group (42%). Adults from ‘any other’ religious group were also more likely than Christian (36%), Muslim (35%), Hindu (28%), and Sikh (27%) adults, and non-religious adults to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month. Buddhist (37%), Christian and Muslim adults were more likely to have participated in any formal or informal volunteering than Hindu and Sikh adults, and non-religious adults.

Ethnicity^{[footnote 2]}

Compared with the England average (33%), levels of participation in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month was higher for adults from the Gypsy or Irish Traveller (50%), Arab (42%), mixed White and Black African (40%), Black African (39%), and Irish (37%) ethnic groups. Adults from the Chinese (25%), ‘any other’ Asian background (26%), ‘any other’ White background (30%), and Indian (30%) ethnic groups were less likely to report participation in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than the England average.

Socio-economic classification

Adults from the higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations (37%) were more likely to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than adults from all other classifications (29% to 33%). Adults from the intermediate occupations (33%) were more likely to participate in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month than adults from the never worked and long-term unemployed (30%) and routine and manual occupations (29%) classifications. 

Index of multiple deprivation

There was some variation in the proportion of adults from different deprivation deciles that engaged in any formal or informal volunteering once a month. For example, reflecting findings for formal volunteering at least once a month, adults from the highest decile (the least deprived) were more likely to participate in any volunteering at least once a month (37%) than adults from all other deciles (28% to 34%), with the exception of adults from the third highest decile (35%). Adults from the lowest (most deprived) decile (28%) were less likely to have participated in any volunteering than adults in all other deciles (31% to 37%).

Population density

In line with the respective findings for both formal and informal volunteering at least once a month, adults living in rural areas (36%) were more likely to have participated in any volunteering at least once a month than adults living in urban areas (32%).

3.3 Geographical findings

Regional differences

Compared with England overall (33%), rates of participation in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month were higher among adults from the South West (36%) and South East (34%) ITL1 regions, and lower in the North East and North West (both 31%) ITL1 regions than the England average. 

Local Authority differences^{[footnote 4]}

Levels of participation in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month were in line with the England average for adults in 245 (83%) local authorities, higher than the England average in 36 (12%) local authorities, and lower than the England average in 15 (5%) local authorities although some of these differences were small.

In general, the patterns of participation in any volunteering at the regional level were also observed at the local authority level. However, there were some exceptions:

Levels of participation in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month was lower than the England average in the North East (31%) ITL1 region, but higher than the England average in the North East local authorities of Westmorland and Furness (39%) and Rossendale (38%).

Levels of participation in any formal or informal volunteering at least once a month was higher than the England average in the South East (36%) ITL1 region, but lower than the England average in the South East local authorities of Milton Keynes (26%), Rushmoor (26%), Slough (27%) and Medway (28%).

Figure 3.2: Participation in any volunteering at least once a month in the last 12 months, by region and local authority, England: 2023/24 (Base: All adults)

4. Motivators and barriers to formal volunteering

Adults who reported doing any formal volunteering in the last 12 months were asked about their reasons for participating in formal volunteering. They were able to select as many options as applied.

The most common reasons for formal volunteering were in line with findings in 2021/22:

• ‘I wanted to improve things/help people’ – 47%
• ‘I had spare time to do it’ – 32% ^{[footnote 5]}
• ‘The cause was really important to me’ – 30%

Other reasons mentioned by around one in four adults who volunteered included the chance to meet people/make friends (25%), to use existing skills (24%), and to meet a community need (23%). 

Figure 4.1: Reasons for taking part in formal volunteering, England: 2023/24 (Base: All adults engaged in formal volunteering)

Adults who had not volunteered at least once a month in the last 12 months were asked about their reasons for not volunteering more frequently, or at all, in the last 12 months. 

The most common barriers to participating in formal volunteering were in line with findings in 2020/21:

• ‘I have work commitments’ – 51%
• ‘I do other things in my spare time’ – 33%
• ‘I have to look after children’ – 22%

Figure 4.2: Reasons for not taking part in formal volunteering at all/not taking part frequently, England: 2023/24 (Base: All adults not engaged in formal volunteering at all/not engaged frequently)

5. Overall participation in volunteering and civic engagement

The 2023/24 data tables provide estimates on the combined proportion of adults who had undertaken any of the following activities in the last 12 months:

• formal volunteering
• informal volunteering
• civic engagement which is defined as any form of civic participation, civic consultation or civic activism

A second combined measure includes all of the above as well as:

• Social action 

For further information on the definition of civic engagement and social action measures, see the Civic Engagement and Social Action chapter of the 2023/24 publication. 

Overall in 2023/24:

66% of adults (approximately 30.6 million adults in England) had participated in any volunteering or any civic engagement activity in the last 12 months    

67% of adults (approximately 30.8 million adults in England) had participated in any volunteering, civic engagement or social action activity in the last 12 months    

6. Charitable giving

In the Community Life Survey, respondents were asked whether they had given money to charity via a number of methods in the four weeks prior to completing the survey. The 2023/24 data tables provide estimates of the proportion of adults giving to charity via each of these methods in the four weeks prior to completing the survey. This section summarises the findings for the proportion of adults giving to charity in the four weeks prior to completing the survey via any method excluding donating goods or prizes. 

6.1 Headline findings

In 2023/24, 67% of adults (approximately 30.6 million adults in England) said they had given money to charitable causes in the last four weeks, in line with levels of giving in 2021/22 (66%). 

It should be noted that an analysis of the impact of seasonality in the pre-pandemic fieldwork years (2013/14 to 2019/20) identified a significant difference between the proportion of adults reporting that they had given money to charity across the different quarters of the survey year. The proportion that gave money to charity was generally lower in the first quarter (April to June) and second quarter (July to September) of the survey year than in the third quarter (October to December) and fourth quarter (January to March). As the 2023/24 CLS fieldwork was condensed into the third and fourth quarters of 2023/24 (October - March) this should be borne in mind when comparing results across years. Analysis was completed to compare the rates of charitable giving from 2023/24 to the rates from the equivalent quarters in 2021/22 - this confirmed the finding above of no change between rates of charitable giving between 2021/22 and 2023/24.  

Figure 6.1: Percentage of adults (16+) who had given to charity in the four weeks prior to completing the survey, England: 2013/14 to 2023/24 (Base: All adults, for 2023/24 Base: Adults in subsample of approximately a third of online respondents)

6.2 Who gave money to charity?

Age

There was some variation in the level of charitable giving between adults of different ages.  For example, adults aged 65 to 74, and 75 or over (both 80%) were more likely than adults in all other age groups to have given money to charity in the four weeks prior to completing the survey (49% to 71%).

Disability Status

No statistically significant difference was found between levels of charitable giving for disabled and non-disabled adults.

Sex

Female adults (73%) were more likely than male adults (62%) to have given to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey.

Gender identity^{[footnote 1]}

No statistically significant difference was reported between levels of charitable giving for adults whose gender identity is different from their sex registered at birth and adults whose gender identity is the same as their sex registered at birth.

Sexual Orientation

Heterosexual or straight adults (68%) were more likely to have given to charity in the four weeks prior to completing the survey than gay or lesbian adults (64%).  There were no other statistically significant differences in charitable giving between adults from other sexual orientation classifications.  

Religion

There was a lot of variation in the proportion of adults from different religious groups that had given to charity. For example, Jewish adults (82%) were more likely to have given to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey than adults from all other religious groups (and non-religious adults) except for adults from ‘any other’ religious group (72%). Christian adults (74%) were more likely to have given to charitable causes than Hindu adults (59%), non-religious adults (61%), Sikh adults, and Buddhist adults (both 63%). Adults from ‘any other’ religious group and Muslim adults (71%) were also more likely to have donated in the four weeks before completing the survey than Hindu adults and non-religious adults. 

Ethnicity^{[footnote 2]}

Compared with the England average (67%), the proportion of adults that reported that they gave money to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey was higher for adults from the Irish (76%), Pakistani (74%) and White British^{[footnote 3]} (69%) ethnic groups. Adults from the Chinese (51%), mixed White and Black Caribbean (52%), Black Caribbean (55%), ‘any other’ Asian background (61%) and ‘any other’ White background (61%) ethnic groups were less likely to report that had given money to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey than the England average.

Socio-economic classification

Adults from the higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations (75%) were more likely to have given money to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey than adults from all other classifications (71% to 55%). Adults from the intermediate occupations (71%) were more likely to have given to charity than adults from the routine and manual occupations (61%) and never worked and long-term unemployed (55%) classifications. Adults from the routine and manual occupations were more likely to have given to charity than adults from the never worked and long-term unemployed classification.

Index of multiple deprivation

There was some variation in the proportion of adults from different deprivation deciles that had given to charity. For example, adults from the three highest (least deprived) deciles (all 74%) were more likely to have given to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey than adults in the seven lower (more deprived) deciles (57% to 70%). Adults in the lowest (most deprived) decile (57%) were less likely to have donated than adults in all other deciles (61% to 74%). 

Population density

Adults from rural areas were more likely to have given to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey (73%) compared with adults from urban areas (66%).

6.3 Geographical findings

Regional differences

Compared with England overall (67%), adults from the South East and South West (both 71%) ITL1 regions were more likely to have given to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey, while those from the London and the North East (both 64%) ITL1 regions were less likely to have given to charity than the England average. See figure 6.2.

Local Authority differences ^{[footnote 4][footnote 6]}

There was little difference in levels of charitable giving by local authority. The proportion of adults who had given to charity in the four weeks before completing the survey was in line with the England average in 259 (88%) local authorities, above the England average in 27 (9%) and below the England average in 10 (3%).

Figure 6.2: Charitable giving in the four weeks prior to completing the survey, by region and local authority, England: 2023/24 (Base: Adults in subsample of approximately a third of online respondents)

7. Methods of giving to charitable causes

Figure 7.1 shows that buying goods from a charity shop or catalogue (28%), and giving through direct debit or standing order (23%) were the most common methods for donating, with other relatively common methods including buying raffle tickets (21%), collection tins (19%), and online donation (17%). 

Figure 7.1: Methods of giving to charitable causes in the four weeks before completing the survey, England: 2023/24 (Base: Adults in subsample of approximately a third of online respondents)

8. How much was being given to charity?

In 2023/24, of adults who had given to charity in the last four weeks, 21% gave over £50, a slight increase compared with 2021/22 when 19% gave this amount. Conversely there was a decrease in the proportion who gave less than £5 (11% in 2023/24 and 14% in 2021/22). 

The average amount given was £29 (excluding those who donated £300 or more). When comparing findings across years, it should be noted that figures have not been adjusted for inflation.   

1. Patterns were identified in Census 2021 data that suggest that some respondents may not have interpreted the gender identity question as intended, notably those with lower levels of English language proficiency. Analysis of Scotland’s census, where the gender identity question was different, has added weight to this observation. More information can be found in the ONS sexual orientation and gender identity quality information report, and in the National Statistical blog about the strengths and limitations of gender identity statistics ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2.   The Community Life Survey is a sample survey, so estimates are subject to an associated sampling error that decreases as the sample size increases. To avoid reporting on estimates that are not sufficiently robust a threshold has been applied whereby estimates are excluded from the written analysis if they have an unweighted base size of 100 or less.  ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. ‘White British’ incorporates anyone who self-identifies their ethnicity as White English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, or British ↩ ↩²

4. The 2023/24 Community Life Survey collects over 170,000 responses, so confidence intervals are generally very narrow. Whilst this reflects a strength of the data, when highlighting differences, some local authorities may be shown to be above/below the England average, but are only a percentage point more/ less than the average. There will be other local authorities who are much more above or below the England average, but will both be shown in the same shading within the map. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. The question on reasons for volunteering was mixed mode in the 2021/22 survey but a web only question in the 2023/24 survey.  Analysis of mode effects found an impact for the response code ‘If I had spare time to do it’, which should be borne in mind when comparing results across years.  Analysis was completed to compare the responses for this code in 2023/24 to the web only responses 2021/22, which confirmed no mode effect on this response option between these two survey years.    ↩

6. The question on charitable giving was asked of adults in a subsample of approximately a third of online respondents.  The smaller sample sizes for this question mean that estimates by local authority are less precise, and that we are less likely to see variation in the data above and below the England average.  For one local authority, the Isles of Scilly, the base was below 100, and findings have therefore been excluded from written analysis as per footnote 2. ↩