Morally obliged to volunteer if retired?

[notnownorma]

Just that, really. If one has no grandchildren to care for, is one morally obliged to give something back to the community if no longer working and in good health? If so, how much time is "enough"?

Inspired by a conversation I recently had with someone thinking of retiring soon.

@InCheesusWeTrust but children are a resource and asset, especially in island societies, which was being discussed. The point was that we don't see the work done by women that creates the society which we all enjoy. It wasn't a modern society that we were talking about.

Ah that got lost in there. Sorry

@Ponoka7 You appear to have misunderstood my previous comment. I didn't say that the unpaid work women do is of less or little value - I should know, I've done enough if it. I said that society doesn't tend to place a monetary value on it because women (and some men too) are expected to care for their own children and families/run a home .

The only alternative is to pay people to be SAHPs which I don't think is a good idea for lots of reasons.

As for Women have always seen to the human side of things. I'm sorry I think that's too much of a sweeping statement. I don't think I see the human side of things any more than my husband. In fact I'd say I'm generally a lot more hard faced than he is.

I agree that historically women have not had the recognition they deserve for prison reform, care of the poor etc.

I think the responses on this thread are a perfect illustration of why the OPs idea is daft.
Anti volunteering people on here have variously:
Moaned about organisations having the audacity to want them to be reliable, and to be trained for the role (because after all, they'd be doing it for nothing, so the charity should be grateful to have them, competent or not.)
Bragged about their amazing lazy lifestyles, gloating over other people who still work.
Sneered at people who volunteer as being sad and friendless.
I mean, really, what charity would want any of that shower as a volunteer?
Far better that volunteering roles are occupied by the sort of people who are already doing them rather than forcing charities to accommodate a bunch of sneerers, moaners and braggarts.

@BloodyHellKen we wasn't talking about a paid society, this was an island society with a bartering system. Someone pointed out that women would still be undervalued. When I said that women have seen to the human side, I meant while their husbands grew fortunes based on exploitation, slavery and poverty, the wives, or indepently well off women, looked to improving social conditions. When pulling down statues all we heard was them being replaced with men of colour, never a local woman, who got children out of adult prisons, took in fallen women/battered wives etc.

Well there was also selfiahness etc mentioned right at first page.

Neither camp is covering themselves up in glory tbh.

Still don't understand what it is people are supposed to pay back

Don't you pay back to society if you have committed a crime, by doing community work.

This

I also agree with the pp who said volunteering is one of the best anti-aging things you can do

Exactly!

Almost every voluntary organisation needs treasurers and administrators.
The organisation I volunteer for would love some people will skills to help with things like

• applying for grants
• building maintenance
• tracking and supporting Leaders getting their Safeguarding Training up to date and keeping it in date.
• project management for building projects
• claiming gift aid
• gardening / grounds maintenance (obviously not at home, but to be done as and when it suits you)
• things like sorting the insurance - most Leaders would love to have a "PA" to take that sort of stuff off their hands
• sports teams need people to book the pitches and refs / umpires
• choirs and orchestras need librarians
• most voluntary organisation need people to do the DBS checks

• then there are organisation like MHA and Age UK who have befrienders who phone people up once a week just for a chat, sometimes those people wouldn't speak to anyone else
• then the same organisations, and many many others, like those supporting people with sight loss, and with learning difficulties, have schemes where you go out and about with people - again, not at home, but you can be flexible with the times you meet.

No, I don't agree with the need to pay back argument either.
If some people of a certain age have benefitted from circumstances no longer available to subsequent generations, I don't hold them responsible to address inequalities arising from that. My life was harder than that of the previous generation (and probably easier than the next) due to a complex combination of political and economic factors which worked well for them.
As long as wealthy retirees pay their taxes, don't fleece the system, critiise lifestyles they know nothing about and acknowledge their good fortune without all this tiresome gloating, I wouldn't ask for more. (Although if they would also refrain from voting for a party that makes our lives harder, that would be a bonus.)

Thank you!

Society needs volunteers to function healthily. No one is obliged to volunteer but, at various stages of your life you might have a bit of time to give and it's a decent thing to do.

If everyone who could did a small bit the work would be more evenly shared around. I don't agree with a previous poster who suggested 20 hours a week. That's a huge commitment.

But even offering to do an hour here or there, or help out with an annual event can be a huge help.

Great post @Kite22
I'm the Secretary of a fairly big Sports Association and we actually have a really good number of people who want to coach etc, but the admin burden is huge and I do most of it unassisted. I actually quite like a lot of it and it does have the advantage of being done largely at home and at times that suit me, but there is stuff that I don't really have the best knowledge and skills for. I would love someone with expertise in applying for grants for example and someone with better IT skills than me so that our pre event information looked more professional than the rather basic Word documents I send out.
The administrative members of the committee may not be as obviously useful as the coaches and leaders that participants see every week but it's crucial work. Welfare Officer is another key role. Many activities have quite a lot of governance involved these days - being voluntary doesn't stop you having to comply with the law and with the often fairly demanding requirements of national governing bodies.
On the "giving back" front, I do see my volunteering as having an element of that. My family has benefitted from the kindness and hard work of volunteers over the years, but when I was working full time and had small children I simply couldn't contribute much to any of those organisations. Now I can and I do, so that other people can have the same opportunities that my children did. I have a few different roles now and I do enjoy them - I'm no martyr - but I do want to do something in response to what others have done for us.

Well of course giving back make sense when someone used the charities and benefitted from them. Fully.

Tbh I come from country where volunteering is not common. It seems to me lots of it in uk is picking up slack from failure of government which is admirable but also bit sad if you see what I mean

Absolutely not. If you do voluntary work it should be because you want to. End of.

Good for you.

As a former Labour supporter of nearly five decades, and having worked with the disadvantaged for all of that time, being paid well below what I could have earned had I been interested in generating profit for somebody, I have done my "volunteering" with the long hours that nobody paid for and the shit public sector wages. The only "volunteering" I will be doing will be supporting strikers and those fighting for the wages and employment rights they deserve, and since that is something the Labour Party leadership no longer give a damn about it also explains why I am a former Labour voter.

So don't lecture others on what they should or should not do - judging by your text it isn't hard to guess where your vote lies, and given the damage to livelihoods and health that your friends have done, you should be giving something back.

How are people on final salary schemes living at your expense? They're not claiming benefits...

It seems to me lots of it in uk is picking up slack from failure of government which is admirable but also bit sad if you see what I mean
Absolutely agree. There is a guy in our village who volunteers with the Blood Bikes. He is out in all weathers on his motorbike delivering blood and other important things between hospitals in our county. It is very admirable. His actions have without doubt contributed to saving many lives, and if you ask him he will say he loves riding his motorbike and helping people at the same time is a bonus. Plus as a biker he is acutely aware that he may one day need those services himself. So it's all good. Except it isn't really. This should be a state funded service. And indeed until services were stripped from our local hospitals it was rarely even necessary but now he and his mates are out most days. It shouldn't be needed.
Most of the volunteering I personally do is what I think of as adding value, not covering basics, though I did do some stuff in Covid which should probably have been centrally funded. But I do mainly sports, children's community activities and so on. I do believe it improves people's well being but I am not kidding myself that I'm saving lives or changing the world.
I do have some misgivings about volunteers plugging the gaps in essential services but I think it's complex. It's very easy to be critical and say that they are facilitating withdrawal of services by being willing to volunteer. But are they? Would those services be funded in the absence of volunteers? Currently, I suspect not. And how many innocent people would suffer if volunteers stopped plugging the gap? I believe Blood Bikes should be a state funded service, 100%. But if it was me or my child waiting for blood, would I want the volunteers to have withdrawn in order to force the governments hand? No. I would be immensely grateful to the volunteers. It's a very grey area.

Quite a catch 22 in there, isn't it.
Which brings up the question of have people plugged the gap in basics for so long because there really wasn't any other option than to plug it, so it will never be restored because why would the gov when it's working, or is there a possibility of the basics actually running as they should in a future and if so how.

I always find "gushing" on sm over lovely foodbanks, for example, uncomfortable. While they are lovely and helpful, they are horrible and shouldn't exist. While the donation is lovely, it shouldn't be needed.
I saw quite a number of people always just put hearts and how lovely etc on posts about donations. It's not hearts it needs. It needs to read "Thank you for donation and doing what government failed to do" or something like that.

ignore people saying "with grandchildren you have an obligation"... you have no more or less obligation to society with grandchildren or not! that said there's nothing wrong with volunteering if you want to. It is commendable.

Tbh I come from country where volunteering is not common. It seems to me lots of it in uk is picking up slack from failure of government which is admirable but also bit sad if you see what I mean

There are instances of this, of course. There should be no need for the wonderful work done by all who volunteer at food banks for example. However, I think volunteering is very often about communities looking out for each other , and coming together socially. Volunteers often get as much out of their volunteering as the groups they are volunteering to support. Many people enjoy being part of a team or group that is getting something positive done.

😃🤔
I’d like to know too please!

We always asked our elderly neigbours if they needed something in shops when we were going so I guess we somehow all kind of volunteered.
I guess we just don't have these things structured and find socialisation in hobby clubs etc.

These no obligation as such, but I personally believe it would be "nice if you did". Plus it would give some structure to your week.
My mum volunteers for Age UK. She's in her late 60s and goes round "old folks" houses to help them fill in the paperwork for carers allowance applications. She also volunteers for her local "walking for health" group as a walk leader.

My dad used his many years of experience as a teacher to become a school governor, and was Chair before he died. He also volunteered as a mentor for young adults leaving the care system.