Why do so many more women volunteer than men?
Posted by Flaky-Walrus7244@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 169 comments
I'm a retiree and I spend my time volunteering for several different organizations. In each of them, there are many more women than men. These aren't charities that are gender specific in any way. Volunteering is a great way to make friends, feel connected to the community and keep active. Why do so few men do it?
Around-3-ish@reddit
Men are accustomed to getting paid for their work.
shotgun883@reddit
Because women know they need social contact after they retire and men think they don’t.
Creative-Solution@reddit
Where I volunteer, I think it's roughly 50/50.. maybe 60/40? Ages are from people in their mid 20s to 50s I think
Necessary_Money_9757@reddit
For younger people (well, middle aged), women are more likely to work part time and may have stopped working in their 50s, so they have more time to volunteer than men who may be more likely to stay in their "main career" for longer.
Older people, men die earlier than women so you end up with women looking for something to do.
Bacon4Lyf@reddit
This is dependent on where you’re volunteering. Any aviation or military museum is bustling with old men volunteers who want to talk to you about it for hours
Gisschace@reddit
My dad runs a beer festival and repair cafe, and gives money to a heritage railway. Peak dad interests there
Snoo63@reddit
I've been to a beer and music festival held at a heritage railway.
ampmz@reddit
My Dad does National Trust volunteering as it’s a pretty good mix, if not slightly more men.
However, he also volunteers with Riding for the Disabled and they have a big problem finding men to help out.
beaches511@reddit
and heritage railways!
UpThem@reddit
Sports teams too.
I could extrapolate from the 3 I'm involved with and make the opposite point to the OP, but that would be silly.
HatOfFlavour@reddit
Local canal volunteer group seems to attract white haired old men.
UpThem@reddit
I'm in CAMRA, which fishes in a similar pool for volunteers.
ReynoldsHouseOfShred@reddit
Yea that was my grandfather. Would walk every day at least half mile into town to volunteer. Very polite and very friendly. Went in without telling him one day and asked for a tour.
His back was turned and he'd already started talking and agreeing. Then he beamed when he saw it was me.
Needed this lift today thank you.
AFingerInEveryPie@reddit
Your grandfather sounds lovely ❤️
Shoddy-Reply-7217@reddit
And craft breweries
whatmichaelsays@reddit
Likewise sports clubs.
I think my local amateur rugby club has two female volunteer coaches, compared to about 25 men.
AFingerInEveryPie@reddit
Women are socialised to be more compassionate and self-sacrificing. That's my take. And for the record, that's not a critcism of men, just of society and the way we parent both boys and girls.
Silmarillien@reddit
I agree. And men rarely do nice things without personal gain.
Doranael@reddit
What an utterly abhorrent thing to say.
Silmarillien@reddit
The truth isn't always nice.
hotchillieater@reddit
The truth isn't just what you want to be, sexist.
Silmarillien@reddit
If you expect people to always say positive things, you need to get out of your bubble and stop being so easily offended. You're not helping anyone by getting salty and using discriminatory labels to silence people with opposite opinions. Mature adults need to be able to have uncomfortable conversations, have the balls to speak up, be honest, address problems as they are. Otherwise we will never reach a solution to anything.
hotchillieater@reddit
Oh, I'm the one using discriminatory language, am I, for (accurately) calling you a sexist, and not you, even though you (inaccurately) made a statement about an entire gender.
Is it your opinion that not many men do voluntary work compared to women? Or are you saying that the numbers are similar for both, but that men have underlying selfish reasons for doing so?
Silmarillien@reddit
People are allowed to make comments on gender, race, sexual orientation, religion and everything else they want to. That's why we have the freedom of speech.
hotchillieater@reddit
Yup - doesn't mean what they say isn't sexist, racist, etc.
Is it your opinion that not many men do voluntary work compared to women? Or are you saying that the numbers are similar for both, but that men have underlying selfish reasons for doing so?
Silmarillien@reddit
And how do you expect people to express their disagreement or displeasure with another sex's, race's, religion's etc attitude without being cancelled as sexist, racist etc?
Men don't volunteer as much as women because when they do put effort into anything, it's because they want to gain something. Not everyone ofc but as a general rule.
hotchillieater@reddit
That isn't what you did. Yours was just simply wrong, generalising, and sexist, whether you want to admit that or not.
England volunteering in by gender 2024| Statista
Not much of a difference...
Silmarillien@reddit
If I believe anything negative about another group, I'm entitled to express it. Whether others find it wrong or mean-spirited is irrelevant. This shouldn't entitle them to prevent me from expressing my view.
The stats you provided literally show that women volunteer more. Similarly, there are studies showing women are more altruistic than men:
https://news.yale.edu/2016/02/25/first-instinct-women-are-more-altruistic-men
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-economic-science-association/article/are-women-more-generous-than-men-a-metaanalysis/5123F80226D509A312A2DC36E738408D
https://research.hhs.se/esploro/outputs/workingPaper/Are-Women-More-Generous-Than-Men/991001480254106056
https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/women-more-likely-to-be-super-givers-to-charities-than-men-caf-research-finds.html
hotchillieater@reddit
Yes, by a few percent, which is hardly what you originally claimed. The same is true in the other sources you've mentioned (two of them are the same study by the way...). Your claim, as a reminder, was "And men rarely do nice things without personal gain." You both haven't shown there to be a huge difference in the percent of men v women who do volunteer, and you've shown nothing that has to do with personal gain.
Yes, again, you are entitled to express it, and again, that doesn't mean it isn't sexist. I think you know that. I'm technically allowed to negatively generalise all black people, for example, in the same way you did men. That would still be racist.
Silmarillien@reddit
The fact the stats show men volunteer less is all I need to prove my point is right. The difference doesn't matter. Obviously if it was like 0% for men, we'd be doomed. The studies I shared discuss personal gain too.
That's not what sexism or racism. These are views which demonise, belittle and discriminate a specific group of people by overblowing, recycling and imposing harmful prejudiced beliefs to prove that said group is inferior or bad. It's about power and control. Merely pointing out a negative trait I don't like towards said group doesn't equal sexism or racism. ALL groups have their flaws anyway and it's good we can criticise them so they can work on them.
That's why I asked how you would express your disappointment, criticism, or disagreement towards any group's behaviour so you wouldn't get cancelled, targeted or persecuted for sexism, racism etc.
someguyhaunter@reddit
So you can't admit you are wrong, you are exist and you move goal posts....
You made a pretty blunt and straight generalisation which heavily inferred men RARELY do anything which doesn't benefit them, someone has shown you stats which reflect that the difference is very minor.
So it's either women and men rarely do anything which doesn't benefit them. Possibly the truest thing here.
OR
They both volunteer equal amounts and you don't have the proper knowledge to back up men specificlly do it to benefit themselves.
OR
you make generalising, incorrect statements about 1 specific gender which would 100% be called sexist if you reversed the genders (correctly so) because you have underlying sexism issues and refuse to admit it.
hotchillieater@reddit
You said men rarely do nice things without personal gain. You haven't shown male volunteers are doing it for personal gain. You haven't shown a significant difference in gender volunteer rates.
Personally I would back up any claims that are based on protected characteristics (which you haven't done as your claim wasn't that there is only a statistically insignificant difference), though I seldom make such claims as in most instances they're irrelevant.
demonic_chonk@reddit
They've got a point though... Men prefer helping or investing their efforts in what will bring them money, power, status, or pleasure. Not that all men are like this but women are more likely to help for the sake of helping.
hotchillieater@reddit
You think they have a point when they say "rarely do nice things without personal gain? Really?
demonic_chonk@reddit
Did I stutter 😂
hotchillieater@reddit
No I just found it odd that you thought they had a point even though they're completely wrong. Strange.
demonic_chonk@reddit
Each to their own sense of truth I guess.
hotchillieater@reddit
Nope. That's not how truth works which I'm sure you know. They're wrong, you can't just take that and make it your own truth and suddenly it's true.
AirconGuyUK@reddit
Well that's nonsense.
CriticalCentimeter@reddit
Absolute tosh. Women are every bit as self serving as men. They just delude themselves more
Psychological-Fox97@reddit
My mum did volunteer stuff when she retired and was alone, definitely a strong social aspect to it for her. My dad passed before reaching retirement. I expect similar reasons are quite common.
Sure-Recognition-262@reddit
A number of reasons, including:
HatOfFlavour@reddit
I wonder if more retired men are much worse off physically than retired women?
someguyhaunter@reddit
I'd guess more are more knackered since there's a higher likelyhood of doing lots of physical work, and not saying women don't, just men do more frequently and more extremely.
HatOfFlavour@reddit
Yeah out of the sample size of my retired parents my Dad is rapidly approaching a wheelchair but my Mum is still walking the dog everywhere.
Psittacula2@reddit
Points 1-2 are definitely correct statistics.
Point 3:
>*”There is still some difference in societal conditioning of males and females - girls & women are encouraged to be kind and caring, while boys & men are encouraged to be providers. This difference is far less pronounced than it used to be, but still exists.”*
This is back-to-front causation!
* Genetic Differences > Environmental Expression of behavioural differences
”Societal conditioning” is a significant error.
Women biologically are more caring, nurturing, higher empathy
Personality skew is clear psychologically
Experience, interest in caring, social and community roles and satisfaction and reward is higher in women eg baby-sitters, Mothers, Domestic diligence aka house proud
Communication differences are substantial in female communication, eg word count differences per day, bids for and receiving attention and so on.
Point 4: Tends to also be correct also ties in with the above differences especially communication.
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
How do you prove those aren't the result of socialisation?
Psittacula2@reddit
For sure there is a combination of both influencing the other ie both ways mechanism.
But studies at scale across many populations cultures and then supporting direct mechanisms all demonstrate at multiple levels as well as these scales above the above genetic component is enormous.
Significant_Soup_279@reddit
There is no scientific evidence that women are inherently kinder.
This so called evidence across populations is likely just recorded after centuries of social conditioning and patriarchy.
Psittacula2@reddit
This is a non-sequitur “words in mouth” - nowhere was kinder specifically stated which is an individual action of behaviour.
Empathy however, has been tested on populations and the differences statistical.
Significant_Soup_279@reddit
“Kinder” was in reference to the traits you mentioned, i couldn’t be bothered to write them all down but i think we can all agree anyone could read what i said and see i was referencing the so called “caring, nurturing, higher empathy” you suggest women are biologically more so than men. In fact people might even argue they are synonyms of each other.
Correlation is not causation, and results should be looked at with nuance. Since science doesn’t suggest any gene on the sex chromosomes that pushes for women to have certain characteristics, we should rely on the information we do have from social sciences and humanities telling us that social conditioning has been key to women expressing these traits. Numbers mean nothing without explanation…
Sure-Recognition-262@reddit
Also, my original point which u/Psittacula2 disagreed with did include "kind":
Williamishere69@reddit
Im trans male. Its 100% social conditioning.. Unless it can be agreed that trans men are male from the start.
Psittacula2@reddit
This is simply confusing:
* Individual variation
* Population variation
Your self-report is the former and does not contradict the population genetics studies.
Williamishere69@reddit
You can ask literally every single trans person about it, they will all day that its socially conditioned and not 'genetic'.
Puzzleheaded-Bad-722@reddit
Point 3 is interesting. Surely more women volunteering suggests that women are the providers? Especially social work like caring, charities and food banks.
Sure-Recognition-262@reddit
I mean "provider" in the sense of "person who earns money to support their family".
You're correct that they very much are providing for others by volunteering, but when people talk about "provider" they normally mean what I meant.
mrggy@reddit
This is a really comprehensive answer. I'd add on the historical aspect as well. Historically, a lot of volunteer and charitable organisations were founded by middle/upper class women. It wasn't socially acceptable for them to engage in paid work, but organising charitable activities was a perfectly socially acceptable way for them to spend their time. From their inception, charities and organised volunteering activities has been seen as largely women's domain.
That's also part of the reason salaries are so low in the voluntary sector. The work was historically done by wealthy women who didn't need to earn a wage
mata_dan@reddit
Well personally I have to put massive effort into career, if I'm not well ahead of the curve and certain I am able to support myself then it's a higher chance I wont, and as a man you are far less supported so essentially just die in the gutter or have an extremely hard time getting back on top of things.
So I get less free time, so that goes on things that aren't "work" / "productivity" which is time I'd put into volunteering (separate from employment work, instead that takes all my time in that category for above reasons).
LambonaHam@reddit
Men already spend their lives working for others, often without gratitude.
Top-Car-808@reddit
Depends on if you are talking about older (retired) or pre retired people.
In the under 65, is is likely that we will find more females. I would guess that the gap in gender in under 65 would be easily explained by finances - there are many more 35 to 65 women that do not work and have some one providing income for them (a man) than the other way around.
So opportunity is key here - an economically inactive female with a solid source of income (man) is far more likley to volunteer than a economically active female with no person to provide the with income.
I would guess to find out, you would need to compare the difference between single, working women under 65 to single working men under 65. And see what the difference is there.
visitingshortly@reddit
I’d say consider local area composition and the types of volunteer organisations. Food bank could be either but museum (dependent on type) and park run I could see being skewed in demographics.
For what it’s worth having volunteered with different groups over the years. There is no big gender divide. I’ve seen some groups heavy make end others heavy female. Main issue is a bit like dating activity groups. Genders by and large tend to hug specific types of activities.
Crunchie64@reddit
They die.
I’m fairly certain there are more widows than widowers.
Some of the women volunteering will still be from generations where it was less common for women to work full time, so they may be continuing volunteer work they’ve done for decades.
Men, particularly from certain socioeconomic groups, have an alarming tendency to drop dead not long into retirement.
Thomasinarina@reddit
Isn’t that assuming all volunteers are old though?
muaythaiguy155@reddit
But it’s a valid assumption that most are based off both life experience and the logic that younger people volunteer less because they’re at work and more likely to have dependants
Thomasinarina@reddit
You could also argue that older people are less likely to volunteer because they may be infirm, caring for relatives etc. it works both ways.
Crunchie64@reddit
Not at all.
If equal numbers of under-65s volunteer, then twice as many women over 65 as men, that would still mean more women are volunteering.
There are many other factors too, such as how men and women choose to spend their free time, how much free time they have, and where the OP is actually volunteering.
As a lot of people have mentioned already, look at “special interest” places such as heritage railways and it’ll be very different to a village charity shop.
tradegreek@reddit
I generally agree with everything you said but also I think a big factor is where they are volunteering for example look at local football / rugby clubs across the country they are predominantly coached by men but I guess people won’t see that as volunteering even though it absolutely is if they aren’t paid
Familiar_Crow_@reddit
Today I learnt that widow and widower mean different things, I just assumed they were interchangeable
Quirky-Gur-4206@reddit
Same!!
Crunchie64@reddit
Wait until you hear about fiancé and fiancée!
Crunchie64@reddit
Wait until you hear about fiancé and fiancée!
HirsuteHacker@reddit
Women tend to work less than men generally.
OrganizationStill135@reddit
Women are just social creatures. Men not so much.
bellpunk@reddit
to add (and to press back against the idea that most volunteers have more free time), I volunteered at a night shelter for homeless men where the vast majority of volunteers were working women, most of whom (self included) would turn up soon after shift
strawbrrymars@reddit
Because of the gendered division of labour :) There's two kinds of work: productive work, which is the creation of goods or the provision of services to be sold on a market, and reproductive work, which is the activities involved in maintaining life such as feeding people and caring for the elderly and sick. Both productive and reproductive work used to centred on the home, but when England transitioned to a capitalist economy productive work was reorganised so that it was centred around factories. Men who worked in factories were given a wage, those who were excluded from factories (such as women) were not, and so these two types of work became strictly separated and had different social relations attached to them. Productive work, done by men, was paid and therefore 'legitimate' and 'valued'. Reproductive work, done by women, was unpaid and therefore 'not real work' and 'valueless'.
To justify reproductive work being unpaid and devalued, it is portrayed as being something that is natural to women, something innately feminine. Women, supposedly, are biologically suited to cooking, cleaning, and caring, and they do it out of love and affection for their families. So we're socialised to view reproductive work as being something that women do. Volunteering falls into this category of reproductive work because it is about caring for and maintaining your community, which women are expected and socialised to do. So therefore more of us do it!
If you want to read more about this I really recommend the following books, I just did an assignment on care work and gender inequality at uni and these were on my reading list:
myheart14@reddit
The animal charity I volunteer for has 1 man and around 30 women.
All of working age from early 20s to 60s who do this alongside full time jobs/ family .
Not all volunteers are retired !
We rarely even get male applicants.
BigEntertainer5667@reddit
Bc they usually have a main breadwinner
sgch@reddit
This is a very broad generalisation, but the older men in my life who have retired have just spent more time on the hobbies that bring them joy and the retired women I know have spent more time with their families and friends. My grandad was incredibly social, watching cricket every match that was on and going to his local camera club and starting an allotment. My granny spent most of her time on the family or watching TV.
Now my parents have retired I am seeing similar things - my mum is volunteering at a charity shop and my stepdad is tinkering around the house, playing video games, reading books and catching up on movies he wanted to see.
NotNotPatMcAfee@reddit
They worked their whole life and just wanna chill, go golfing…. Etc
hikam1@reddit
In my experience this isn't true, ive seen just as many men as I have women volunteering. Maybe it's the type of charity you're volunteering for? Like breast cancer I would expect more women, but prostate cancer more men, could it be something like that?
GlitchingGecko@reddit
I wouldn't expect many men to volunteer for shop work at all tbh. I'd expect them to be more things like outdoor events - marshalling an event in a park, or cleaning up afterwards, that kind of thing.
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
Men volunteer for the fun noticeable things, my dad volunteered explaining history to members of the public and all the people doing that were men. The women organised the rota and meetings and stuff. And yeah, women are the ones sorting through musty old clothes while men are out in the park somewhere.
ManicPixiRiotGrrrl@reddit
this is the one, I’ve never met a straight man who volunteers for the boring stuff it’s always the stuff that they find fun
hotchillieater@reddit
I'm a man and I volunteer for giving food to homeless people, though I'm not sure if that qualifies as boring or not!
mrggy@reddit
This lines up. The vast majority of the volunteer groups I'm in are 90%+ women, even when the cause doesn't have a gendered component. The one exception is a public transit related group. Men liking trains is enough of a stereotype for it to make sense that the vast majority of members are men. But the group's volunteer leadership committee that does all the planning and behind the scenes organising? 75% women
Junior_Factor8561@reddit
Maybe even just transport related. Lot of old timers I know who volunteer at our local hospital were immediately put into driving roles, picking up people who don’t have their own transport and who need to get to appointments that would require an hour on public transport plus all the difficulties that gives them. By comparison but of course totally anecdotal their wives have been drafted into running the on site fundraising cafes and whatnot
ManicPixiRiotGrrrl@reddit
it’s hard for me to see it as anything other than wanting to be praised for being a good person without having to actually do something selfless. maybe I’m just too cynical
fugelwoman@reddit
Why wouldn’t you expect many men do volunteer at a shop ?
GlitchingGecko@reddit
Men generally prefer tasks more inline with their hobbies. I'm sure some men would like working a shop fine, but for the majority I'd expect them to volunteer around things they find interesting, like aircraft, railways, fishing, gardening, etc.
gogul1980@reddit
Men don't need to be connected to the community as much. A lot of them just want to be left alone tbh lol
Sneaky-Hint@reddit
The male loneliness epidemic says otherwise.
I think it's less that men don't need to be connected to the community and more that men struggle to put themselves out there socially.
Party_Advantage_3733@reddit
Socialising is like healthy eating and exercising. A lot of us don't want to do them, but we sure do need to.
TheRealPyroManiac@reddit
Less free time due as men work more on average is one reason I imagine.
LegendaryTJC@reddit
Women live longer in retirement and often retire earlier. There is a much bigger pool of retired women.
LeadershipAble773@reddit
Cause, generally, men arent nice. Obviously "not all men", but enough that I used to see sexism against men as a bad thing, and now I just see it as someone being observant and realising that men, in general, just arent as nice as women. I dont want to be sexist, I want to be equal with men, I just dont see ANY evidence to suggest that men are, in any way, the "nicer" species
gigazero@reddit
Every time I donate platelets it is 90% males also donating.
DECKTHEBALLZ@reddit
Housewives who are empty nesters.
RobW_69@reddit
My wife has the luxury of doing that whilst I am working so she can. Win Win!!
Iamthe0c3an2@reddit
Yeah… this is going to depend what you’re volunteering in.
Go to any car/military/manly man show and you have no shortage of blokes volunteering.
I myself am a volunteer race marshall and it’s mostly a lot of old blokes. 9:1 male to female ratio on a good day.
WhalingSmithers00@reddit
Men retire a bit later and die younger. They are also more likely to work full time particularly at older ages when most people volunteer.
Other than that more old men tend to have single minded dedication to lawn care.
HatOfFlavour@reddit
Didn't the retirement ages wet equalised a few years ago? Hasn't that already come into affect?
JoshAGould@reddit
For pensions maybe, but that doesn't necessarily translate into outcomes being equal
https://ifs.org.uk/publications/understanding-retirement-uk
CongealedBeanKingdom@reddit
Yes.
PollyPutty@reddit
I think it massively depends on where you volunteer. I work for the RSPB and I would say there are more men than women.
coffeewalnut08@reddit
I think women are more socialised to care about their community and other people. That’s why women are the carers, teachers, talkers, and active mums.
It’s also why women and girls tend to make stronger, more emotionally deep friendships.
While a lot of men for example, might have friendships but rely on their romantic partner as their sole source of emotional depth.
I also think men are socialised to care more about paid work, careers, and making visible contributions.
FreeBogwoppits@reddit
For context, I'm a woman. I volunteer at a charity shop, our area manager was discussing this same issue on Saturday.
Overall our shops have 80% female volunteers.
Very generally speaking the women volunteer because they want to be a volunteer, they want to help, they want to 'do good'. The men volunteer for more for personal gain, mostly Duke of Edinburgh award or as part of a support system for mental health difficulties or neuro diversity challenges.
Area manager's opinion was that volunteering is akin to the concept of low skilled community work being seen as women's work. Back to the idea of women having a "little part time job".
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
Yes, men volunteer in things that interest them and where they can show off their skills.
CongealedBeanKingdom@reddit
And bombard people with facts.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Generally women are more likely to know people and get offered opportunities. And men get worried if out-numbered by women that all the talk will be about grandchildren etc and a lone man can get harassed. My Dad used to run community groups and having a man around encourages more men to come as they know someone they can chat mainly football with.
Having worked in volunteer groups, a lot of men help with set-up and take-down while dropping the wives off. And much appreciated. But they don't like front of house as much. So tailored opportunities help.
Alive_Definition4140@reddit
The places you've mentioned are all the "easy" jobs to volunteer for. Take a census of all the volunteer sport coaches, volunteer military/police, etc. Then tell me with a straight face more females volunteer than males.
genxerrr@reddit
Because they like to have a natter.
Fando1234@reddit
I do quite a lot of volunteering and haven't really noticed this, though also I haven't been looking out for it either.
Could it be down to the kind of volunteering work?
Sparkson109@reddit
Men volunteer for special interests women mostly volunteer in general helping people roles
thermalcat@reddit
Many of the volunteers organisations I've worked in or with have more women down to many being widows.
The men I work with in volunteering are usually more social and want to build community many have seen the women in their lives have their support group, whether that's from school, having children, or their hobbies and have then sought it out.
Many volunteers I know (I am currently a volunteer in two member organisations) are older, and have either, fully retired or winding down their hours, and want to use their time wisely.
My current team is made up of three retirees, and myself, two are widows, two with husbands. They have a wealth of knowledge and are still happy to work in the ebbs and flows of all the project work we do.
DumCrescoSpero@reddit
I spent 3-4 years volunteering in youth work in my early 20's and was never given any of the qualifications I was promised to bolster my CV, so I decided to never volunteer again. Huge waste of my time.
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
Lol, demonstrating that men volunteer for what they get out of it and not just to contribute.
DumCrescoSpero@reddit
I did it for both. I was a 20 year old with barely any GCSE's and was trying to improve my CV.
JavaRuby2000@reddit
Men just volunteer at different things to you. You volunteer at the history museum but, if you go to the National Museum of Computing you'll find the majority of volunteers are male. Also the park run thing is probably just your local one. The one near me it is nearly all male volunteers running it. Also things like charity car events, kids hospital toy drives, after school robotics and computer clubs are nearly all men. Also our local community kitchen was set up by a man and all the drivers are men.
BenchoteMankoManko@reddit
cause generally the guy has worked like 60 years straight already, why would he want to do more for free
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
The woman has worked her whole life too, probably large chunks for free.
OwnUse237@reddit
I volunteered to do some dog walking at a local animal shelter a few years back. I’d liaised over the phone before hand and they knew I was coming.
Turned up and was told to play with a dog in a fenced off area away from the rest of the kennels. Just left there on my own for about an hour until the only other male volunteer turned up because thats who I was walking with.
Whether it was done intentionally I’m not sure but it doesn’t create a welcoming or inclusive environment. It left me feeling a bit meh tbh. Like is it really that hard to believe that I’d want to volunteer?
Reeelfantasy@reddit
Coz women are carers with big hearts
Historical_Rain_2960@reddit
Because men have wives constantly making work for them, meanwhile women are bored so they need something to do to pass the time.
Not true for all but it is a common stereotype which explains this.
hotchillieater@reddit
What do you mean?
Fabulous_Orchid_2997@reddit
They love saying, "I met my partner volunteering"..
Whosentyounow@reddit
I was going to say go to the steam railways
apextwit@reddit
Men are massively underrepresented in all of the caring professions, so it doesn't surprise me that they also don't bother volunteering in unpaid, supporting roles when they're older. Men just don't generally choose to do things that are caring or supportive in society, lol.
Fun_Gas_7777@reddit
Generally its older people who volunteer, and generally older men are more likely to have a paid job than older women.
TheWarmestHugz@reddit
I think it's a pretty close split between men and women. You have volunteers like the RNLI, Special Constables and Mountain Rescue who are made up of predominantly men. I volunteer for an emergency service and between us it's a pretty even split of men and women too.
Jose_out@reddit
Depends what organisation. My local football and rugby club has many more male volunteers than female...
Active_Definition_57@reddit
Yes, the coach of a girls' football or rugby team is far more likely to be the dad of one of the girls than the coach of a boys' team be the mum of one of the boys.
For now at least, there are likely to be more ex-players who are men than women.
MountainMuffin1980@reddit
From working with older groups, it tends to be because men have more hobbies they get into when they retire to take their time up. Golfing, woodworking, train models etcetc. Not that women don't also partake in hobbies, but from experience far more men than women have long term/time consuming hobbies.
pixelunicorns@reddit
I haven't found that when volunteering in mature conservation, I usually do the practical habitat management and ecological surveys. It seems evenly spilt with men and women. Though it is mostly retirees, especially during week sessions.
Pyjama365@reddit
Several reasons:
I wonder if part of it is that girls are taught from toddlerhood to prioritise caring about others more than boys are. I'd feel a bit useless if I was retired, able to volunteer in a shop or whatever, and just didn't do even a few hours a week to help some sort of non-profit.
Also men don't necessarily get encouraged to have as many social connections outside of family and the workplace (and some male 'friendships' seem very surface-level as an outside observer), so maybe men don't tend to look to volunteering to fill a social gap as much as women would, as partners/friends die off.
Also they die earlier. So maybe less of them are around to participate in volunteering once you hit a certain age group.
Charming_Bing_3802@reddit
It’s usually a pretty even split every time I’ve volunteered, though I’ve noticed in things like community gardening it’s usually more women, and when it’s something like a large food bank warehouse there’s usually more men.
Also for anyone who doesn’t volunteer, do it (if you’ve got the time), it’s one of the most positive things you can do in life and may even make you live longer.
nuflybindo@reddit
N = 1
Fit_Economy821@reddit
Men have normally and especially men of age nowadays have worked harder , longer and usually in the most taxing professions . Men at present are burnt out , served their time and happy to sit and enjoy their own time. Most Men are comfortable to sit or potter around . Woman tend to like to be busy .
Ok-Personality-6630@reddit
Can we not back up posts like this with statistics?
SpiderLight97@reddit
The OP is quite transparent about the fact they’re speaking of their own experiences and perceptions, but statistics do seem to support that to a small degree (e.g. https://www.statista.com/statistics/292918/volunteering-in-england-by-gender/?srsltid=AfmBOorCNuSCQfvu7HYRB7Vyc1fK3Jgf-vmfjs9sNhijhXP3gJhHex28).
Whithorsematt@reddit
I don't really see the same split, but it will depend on where you are looking. Local to me I can see a fairly even split at parkrun, the volunteers at the local kids sports teams are almost exclusively men and the volunteers at the charity shops are almost exclusively women.
Thestickleman@reddit
Personally I don't like the idea of or want to socialise, meeting new people, spending time with randoms and working for free
Avionykx@reddit
Interesting viewpoint.
I'm the chairman of a small-medium size charity of volunteers and also co-chair a regional board representing volunteers in our county.
My experience is that it's predominantly men volunteering, normally between ages 35-60.
Not to take anything away from your own observations but it certainly differs from mine. Thank you for sharing.
Key_Opening6939@reddit
I’m guessing that the women in the age group you mentioned are still raising and chauffeuring kids around? OP is a retiree.
Serious_Escape_5438@reddit
What kind of work is it?
Responsible-Match418@reddit
It might be less about volunteering and more about expected roles in society in general.
For example, there continues to be massive gender disparity between STEM related fields and help related fields.
Volunteer organizations tend towards helping people (events, counselling, etc) which are more people-orientated and don't use the skills of STEM style work experience.
I recently went to a charity event where they fix broken things for free. Can't remember the name of it. There were many old men just willing to sit there and fix things.
miIk-skin@reddit
I'm saying this as a woman myself who previously used to volunteer at a foodbank, but my direct experience was that the women that volunteered were either:
a. Fully retired and looking for something to do with their time.
b. Worked part-time whislt they had husbanda that worked full-time.
c. Didn't work at all whilst their husbands worked full-time.
I imagine this contributes greatly towards the optics of seeing men in fewer voluntary roles. Even though we've technically achieved basic work equality between the sexes, I still personally feel that there is greater pressure on men to carry the burden of greater working hours, whereas their female partners are often expected to work fewer hours.
Unfortunately this is even the case between my partner and I, since he works 5 days a week whereas I work 4. However I'm using the additional free time I have to learn to drive so I can get a better job with more hours and the relationship can be more equal.
Sage-Freke-@reddit
It probably depends on the charity to some extent, although I have seen more women in charity shops for example. It could be that women are generally more empathetic than men and therefore like to help others. Or maybe that it encourages being sociable, which is another trait particularly in the older generation which seems to be more prevalent among women.
fluentindothraki@reddit
There is a male loneliness epidemic, in particular among older men, so you'd think they would go for that, not sure what the barrier is
Amazing_Incident_967@reddit
Most of the volunteer drivings taking our patients to hospital appointments are men, I find.
DameKumquat@reddit
Women are more likely to be underemployed - getting part time or flexible jobs that fit round parenting is tricky, so given it still tends to be father works full time, mum does a few hours, that leaves them with ability to do other things if they can be flexible.
organic_soursop@reddit
unbelievablydull82@reddit
I was about assistant manager for a charity shop about 24 years ago. Id say it was more 60/40 women to men
ButtweyBiscuitBass@reddit
I have worked in the charity sector for 20 years and I have essentially I think it comes down to practise. Men, especially of the baby boomer generation, were taught that their value was primarily tied to their economic output. Women were were taught that their value was primarily tied to their social output (e.g. organising the friendships, bringing up the children etc). When men retire they often don't know what to do with themselves outside or the context of the workplace because that's been where their identities were formed and nurtured. Whereas women, even when they have worked as much as men in paid employment, have been expected to primarily draw their identities for multiple social sources. So for many older women starting a new in a new team where money isn't exchanged is a well oiled skills set and one they have built over many years of being a PTA rep, running a book group, volunteering for brownies etc. For men it's sometimes an uncomfortable learning curve and that's off putting.
Prof_Hentai@reddit
Because the people at the age of having the time and money to volunteer are normally women who can work for free due to the financial security earned by the husband. The retired husband are more often than not recovering from a lifetime of work to provide for their families.
I wager in a few years time, these numbers will balance as the old-fashioned home arrangements are no longer viable due to crippling inflation and late-stage capitalism brought about by boomers.
neukStari@reddit
Because they are lazy and lack agency, and volunteering is a safe way to performatively look busy.
GlitchingGecko@reddit
Ok Clavicular.
InformationHead3797@reddit
Oh yes, women donating their time for free for a good cause and you still manage to make it a way to make it negative. Go be ashamed of how little you are.
nick_red72@reddit
They might not be gender specific charities but the roles might be seen by some as a more of a traditional woman's role, especially to someone from an older generation. You'll fine plenty of men volunteering at historic railways, nature reserves, waterways, etc.
kstaruk@reddit
It's possible thet volunteer in different ways. A male family member volunteers at a transport museum, a local historical railway and a charity furniture warehouse type place. I believe at the transport museum most of his fellow volunteers are also males
Candid_Beat4463@reddit
There’s an anecdotal vs empirical evidence issue here. You are relying on personal experience, which is too small a sample size to draw reliable conclusions from.
Have you looked into any actual studies or research that support this view?
uncertain_expert@reddit
I don’t see the same gender bias that you report in my own experience.
If you look at older generations then perhaps there are more women than men volunteering because there are simply more women alive in that age group? Middle-age and below I don’t see any variance.
Consistent-Pirate-23@reddit
I’m a man and volunteered for years, there were plenty of men doing it, some organisations needed different skills that’s all
Prudent-Pressure2146@reddit
I used to be a volunteer counsellor and it was defo disproportionately more women than men that volunteered, and it was the same split with callers as well. I do think if the split with counsellors had shifted a bit it might’ve changed the demo for callers too.
Electric-aura3000@reddit
Maybe Women are typically more sociable than Men
mystic-echoes@reddit
Because they haven’t got time.
Their wives are busy giving them jobs to do since retirement.
0uthouse@reddit
Because men are less sociable? Men statistically are less likely to turn to a social network for help.
BikeProblemGuy@reddit
Can't get pissed.
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