The Volunteer Trap: Older Women, Volunteering and Insecure Financial Futures

Volunteering is an important aspect of informal community care and is often associated with older people as a way to ‘give back’ or to maintain cultural capital and to enhance wellbeing.

However, for some older volunteers it may also be a pathway to work, particularly for people who have an altered life course through migration, redundancy, or health setbacks. To date little consideration has been given to older volunteers who are volunteering as a route into paid work. This paper reports on findings from the coproduced art research project Uncertain Futures which has explored the work narratives of 100 women over 50 who were either accessing work, in work or exiting work in Manchester. The women in this study were aged between 50 to early 80s, the majority were from minority ethnic backgrounds, with almost half involved in some form of voluntary work. 

This paper will report on the experiences of women who are ‘trapped’ in volunteer roles, unable to translate this work experience into paid employment and the consequences that this has on their financial security. Though the women often found purpose and social connection through volunteering, this could be overshadowed by years of unsuccessful job hunting, and the lack of support to help them to return to paid work. 

This presentation will not only highlight the individual and collective struggles of these women but also offer insights into the broader implications of an altered life course on one's future. Through this discourse, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by older volunteers and ignite a conversation on how to better support their aspirations for paid employment. Uncertain Futures serves as a crucial lens through which we can examine the intersection of volunteering and employment among older women and the resulting precarity. It compels us to reflect on the value we assign to voluntary work and the societal changes needed to ensure that such work is not a dead-end, but a stepping stone to a more secure and fulfilling futures. 

Sarah Campbell is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University within the Department of Social Care and Social Work. She has a PhD from the University of Manchester. She is an interdisciplinary social scientist working in the field of social and cultural ageing. Her research interests are in everyday life, care, gender and social inequalities. Her work is underpinned by participatory methodologies and using creative methods to support the inclusion of marginalised voices within research. 

Elaine Dewhurst is a Senior Lecturer in Employment Law at the University of Manchester and her research is mainly in the field of age discrimination law. She has a PhD in law from the National University of Ireland, Cork and completed a post doctoral fellowship in age discrimination law at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy in Germany. She is the senior expert on Age for the European Equality Law Network. 

Project Bio: 

Uncertain Futures is a collaborative art and research study exploring inequalities in relation to both paid and unpaid work for women over 50 in Manchester. 

The team is: Ruth Edson, Community Learning Manager; Suzanne Lacy, Artist; Dr Elaine Dewhurst, University of Manchester; Dr Sarah Campbell, Manchester Metropolitan University. 

The advisory group and co-researchers are: Akhter Azabany, Manchester Resident; Erinma Bell, CARISMA Services; Sally Casey, Aquarius Tenants and Residents Association;  Atiha Chaudry, Greater Manchester Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic Network;  Rohina Ghafoor, Manchester Black Minority Ethnic Network; Marie Greenhalgh, Wythenshawe Good Neighbours; Teodora Ilivea, Manchester Resident;  Jila Mozoun, Raha, Women’s Voices; Tendayi Madzunzu, ZIWO (Zimbabwean Women’s Organisation); Elayne Redford, Work and Skills Team, Manchester City Council; Nadia Siddiqui, Women’s Voices; Circle Steele, Wai Yin Society; Patricia Williams, Neighbourhoods Team, Manchester City Council; Louise Wong, Wai Yin Society.

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