To be surprised how much of society is run by volunteers and that really we should be valuing this work?

[SEsofty]

I am getting increasingly disheartened by the amount of work which is now being carried out by volunteers and that as society as a whole really ought to be paying for the work.

Apparently half of all graduates now carry out unpaid internships and in many of them they are not development roles but simply doing work that otherwise someone would have to be paid to do.

The library is now run by volunteers.

The local preschool is, like most, run by a committee of parents who are responsible for setting staff wages and liaising with ofsted.

The local domestic violence helpline entirely run by volunteers.

So Aibu in thinking that this unpaid work ought to be recognised and that without volunteers society would grind to a halt

So Aibu in thinking that this unpaid work ought to be recognised and that without volunteers society would grind to a halt

Yabu.

They should be recognised with a proper salary.

Yes and no.

It absolutely is, and was in the past.

It's a very valuable resource and actually the world is better when people volunteer- services are closer to what is ne3ded, people take responsibility for their own community etc.

But that social capital should be valued and appreciated more highly, and the volunteers recognised.

YANBU. This is David Cameron's 'big society' plan. How he expected us to live when volunteering for free is unclear. I think volunteers and the services they provide are fantastic, but they should be rewarded by being paid for doing this vital work. It's another way the rich have an advantage when a new graduate with wealthy patents can take an unpaid internship. I get angry when I think of what austerity has done to this country

Private companies shouldn't be taking on unpaid interns. Only people from comfortable family backgrounds can afford to develop their careers by taking on these roles.

Snap Fluffy

"How he expected us to live when volunteering for free is unclear."

Obviously not on benefits!

It's a very valuable resource and actually the world is better when people volunteer- services are closer to what is ne3ded, people take responsibility for their own community etc.

I couldn't disagree more, it isn't necessarily driven by community need, by a) what interests volunteers b) what untrained and unqualified people can accomplish c) hurts those srill in employment , if there's a cadre of people who will do the job of a library assistant for free, it makes the remaining library assistants the target of further cuts.

Yes- that’s the irony dilutingjuice.

The Tories want everyone to work full-time, but also want everyone to be volunteering to provide the frontline services that they refuse to fund.

It’s an either/or situation Theresa. Make a choice and stick to it.

I think austerity has made it worse, private citizens are having to pick up where public services are not delivering.

Not to mention the thousands of unpaid carers who don’t receive enough support (financially or otherwise) for the work they do.

Each Christmas a group of local charities come together for a special project, and each year at least one has folded due to running out of funding, and several more will have become entirely volunteer run for the same reason. This year the worst affected are one for sexual abuse survivors, and one for refugees and other immigration issues. The latter were supporting people affected by the Windrush scandal.

These are essential and specialist services, and with all the best will in the world, volunteers cannot fill the gap that is being left.

Yes recognised by paying people proper salaries.

I would say that we can't afford some services, and that they work well with volunteers who see the need in their community and feel responsibility to meet it.

There are other services that should without a doubt be run by paid professionals. The difficulty is knowing which are which!

If the state provides too much then people feel less responsible for themselves, their families and their neighbours.

I feel there are people who would like to live on some level of benefit, doing worthwhile voluntary work, as it suits their complex health/social needs. They should not be hounded into 'proper paying work'.

Yes we are relying on volunteers far too much because of cut backs

But it shouldn’t necessarily be paid work because if it was many of the places wouldn’t have the volunteers they have they would have low paid workers who are just there to get paid

I have worked places where the volunteers are the backbone and they are valued and do they work through love of the organization ok sometimes things are not run as smoothly as they could be but it works paid workers would not give that effort and build up the very important relationships that they do

YANBU

They should be paid a proper salary.

Otherwise you end up with posh twaddles doing all the important jobs, and some of them do it very shittly indeed.

I'm a library assistant waiting to be made redundant so that a volunteer can replace me, and the city council can boast that it is keeping libraries open

I would say that we can't afford some services

I would say we can affird them, the current government chose to spend it on other things, to give but two examples, tax cuts for the wealthy and the bribe to the DUP to save May's arse, which is rather predictably blowing up in her face.

See also: tuition fees Vs doctors

Volunteering is good for us; we know that. I've done a few different things " for free" and I've gained more than I have given. At the same time, successive governments have been keen to keep taxes and Community Charges down, and this is what we get. Erosion of things that made our society worth celebrating .

We need to pay more taxes, as a nation. And the rich, and big business, need to pay more tax.

Volunteering is a good route into full time work though.

Volunteering is a good route into full time work though.

For those that can afford it, yes. Can't you see how that reinforces inequality?

I think also important to see the roles that are paid roles, but charity funded.

Like the clinical nurse specialist my sibling sees at the cancer hospital. Funded by the local cancer charity, rather than being an nhs funded nurse.

I think things like that are a big issue because it’s not instantly obvious how underfunded that hospital is.

I’m with Fluffy and Funky. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of decreasing services for those who need them most and undermining public sector jobs.

My local village library is under huge threat, Council is one of those teetering on bankruptcy. It’s also a village lifeline- meeting place, study space for school kids, groups for older people.

I have a cperience as a library assistant. I would love to relieve some of the threat to it’s existence. But I know my volunteering would just be used to put someone out of a job.

The council has already given up running the local park- a community group formed and stepped up (as the park was already very neglected anyway).

I can see the same thing happening with the Library soon.

@Chethang

How is volunteering a good route into work if you no paid positions exist?

For instance the library worker on this thread being replaced by a volunteer.

When I used to be part of a Home Care team for people with disabilities, it quickly became clear that without the help of neighbours, usually unemployed/retired Women, the service users wouldn't have been able to remain in their homes.

These helpers didn't see themselves as voluntary carers.

So the amount of essential volunteers that there are, isn't known and they certainly aren't valued by the Torys.

Listed companies should be banned from using volunteers as it ‘cooks the books’ — the more volunteers they use the better their profits appear when often they are being managed very, very poorly (the BBC and other media companies is a v good example).