Spotlight on Volunteering & Gender: Active Lives Adult Survey

The Active Lives Adult Survey shows that 6.7 million adults (15% of adults in England) volunteered at least twice in the last year to support sport and physical activity. This is a huge contribution, with people giving their time in a range of different ways – from coaching and committee roles, to providing transport and marshalling at events. Importantly though, those who volunteer in sport don't currently represent the diversity of the wider population, meaning that certain groups are not experiencing the benefits volunteering can bring. Here we focus on the gender profile in sport and physical activity volunteering.

Men currently make up 60% of volunteers and women only 40%, a gender difference this report will explore. This gender difference mirrors the trend we see in participation, with women less likely to be active, and contrasts with volunteering in other sectors, for example the arts, where women are more likely to volunteer (Community Life Survey, DCMS, 2016/17).

This report delves deeper into the statistics and the possible underlying reasons behind them, with talking points and further insight in each section. We've selected three key life stages to help understand the differences between men and women's likelihood to volunteer to support sport and physical activity. While the types of roles that volunteers carry out are wide ranging, this report will focus on the seven roles which are captured within the Active Lives Adult Survey. More information about the definition of these roles can be found in the Notes section.