Is Volunteering a moral duty to "give something back"?

I feel no moral responsibility whatsoever.

I have paid tax since I was 16 (and still do, along with NI from my part-time role). I held various volunteer roles when I was working, including both professional ones where I lent my expertise, and running cubs and beavers where I 'got my hands dirty'. I do other bits and pieces when asked, and run a monthly class which I teach at no charge (in fact I pay the rent on the room) but am enjoying the freedom to go away when I want to (which we do a lot), so I am not available to commit to doing anything else on a regular basis.

I'm not yet a (state) pensioner, but when I get my pension I will be confident that I have earned it, and see no reason to feel morally deficient for not volunteering to do any more. Maybe if/when I give up work altogether I will find something voluntary that allows me to do the equivalent of work from home, but maybe I will just put my feet up and enjoy doing nothing much. Maybe the Tories will scrap the state pension and I'll have to find something to pay the bills, like everyone else. It's nobody's business but mine though, and whatever happens, my conscience will be clear.

Saying that it's a moral duty makes a lot of assumptions, and not everyone's life is or was the same. I think we have a duty to give back throughout our life, according to our circumstances and capacity at the time. That doesn't have to include formal volunteering and can be small actions that go unnoticed by many.

I dont think anyone has a "duty" once they retire. I have a relative who never recovered from a stroke they suffered 9 years ago. She spends a lot of her time in bed watching TV because it allows her to save on heating. She says she has "nothing to get up for" most of the time.

In some ways I envy her the ability to abdicate responsibility but i would die of boredome. Watching TV for hours is a passive activity and not enough for me. Even when I do have it on Im often doing something else - packing parcels for customers, sorting stock, cleaning antique jewellery and so on.

I volunteered in various ways in my community even while working full time when I was young. As parents my friends and I did everything for PTA working hard organising events catering etc to earn extra money for the school.
I have volunteered with the local park rangers etc but I never considered it a moral duty. I did it because I wanted to it was rewarding. I was recently asked to help with a local club I might consider it I have not decided yet.
As I get older it annoys me how some do not contribute anything to the community. They just sit back and reap the benefits of others hard work they are the people who have a moral duty to do something.

Of course it is not a “moral” duty to do voluntary work!

I worked hard,paid a high rate of tax,helped out a lot at all the schools my children attended and sat on numerous committees over the years.

Retirement is my time,I belong to the WI and our group does do a lot in the village,we are always serving tea and cake at events.I go to other groups and I swim daily.

That is enough for me at 74.

I admire all those who make the commitment to do voluntary work ànd if I could find a role with flexibility would happily offer my services.
But being the Tweenies ( age 70) we provide childcare for the DGCs and arrange social,medical and general well being for family members 10_15yrs older.I feel I more than contribute to the welfare of others.A friend once asked why I did it was it because I loved to feel needy.I just think of it as payback for all the support they have given over the many years.

Throughout my full time working life, I served on various committees, governing bodies and PTA’s. In retirement, I’ve gradually reduced those commitments and now mainly volunteer for my local theatre, being on the management committee as membership secretary, besides helping backstage or on front of house. Occasionally, I enjoy minor rôles on stage.

All this satisfies my need to socialise besides enabling me to be involved with performing arts, a lifelong passion. I couldn’t be fulfilled at home full time but I accept we are all different in our approach to retirement.

Where I volunteer there are three other people of my age who have stuck with it week in week out. However, we have an ever changing variety of younger people who come for a short while then disappear. They have to put volunteering in job/course applications so it looks good volunteering in a hospital but they have no intention or interest in staying beyond that. It's very annoying. They're only doing it to make them look good.

In my view there are too many variables to generalise. Health, mobility, transport, the availability of something interesting to name a few. As a former volunteer coordinator for a national charity I’d not want anyone to feel pressurised to volunteer or to feel less valuable as a person if their choice was not to.

We can all offer something to a community by being aware of the needs of others whether family, friends or neighbours and helping where we can in whatever way we can. It doesn’t have to be a formal arrangement through an organisation.

In my opinion volunteering should be just that. I was leader of a charity support group for 15 years. Over those years the situation and expectations changed. I began to get irritated by the amount of time I was allocating to the "volunteering" to the detriment of my social/family life. Equally I thought that the volunteers were increasingly becoming unpaid staff. Recognising that I had stopped enjoying what I did and on moving house I ceased volunteering. I miss the people but not the role.

AmberSpyGlass
I think the recipient of the phone call just didn’t want to talk to an outrageous snob anymore ?

GagaJo

Casdon

I’ve read the Mumsnet thread, there’s one controversial post near the beginning, which lots of posters requoted saying they disagreed. The vast majority said they didn’t think volunteering could or should be compulsory, and were supportive of retirees making their own choices. I’m not sure who the ‘they’ you’re referring to is GagaJo, but there was little evidence of resentment on the Mumsnet thread.

Clearly those referenced in the quote from Callistemon.

I’m not sure who the ‘they’ you’re referring to is GagaJo

I was quoting Gagajo's description of them as:

^This is a terrible time to be 30/40^

And I responded:
It wasn't so brilliant when I was 30 to 40 either!

It is impossible to generalise and say that this is a terrible time right now for everyone who is 30/40.
It may be for some but it is not for all of that age group.
Just as it was 30 - 40 years ago.

Recollections may vary.

I'm uncomfortable with the idea that some volunteering is taking what should be paid jobs off people.

Just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

As local services have been cut, some charities that rely on volunteers have had to make up the short fall and sometimes it often isn't appropriate.

Hmmm.

Zero hours contracts.

Impossibility for large swathes of the population to buy a home due to prices.

No/very very limited social housing available (thanks to selling it off).

I bought my first home at 20, based on one wage.

My parents were loaned the money (wasn't much) to buy their house by their parents. No mortgage. That house is now worth millions. House prices, proportionally, are hugely higher than they were for us.

Things are much harder now. Millenials & Generation Z know it. Us denying it helps no one and just adds to the impression that boomers are selfish and don't care.

JaneJudge

I'm uncomfortable with the idea that some volunteering is taking what should be paid jobs off people.

Just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

As local services have been cut, some charities that rely on volunteers have had to make up the short fall and sometimes it often isn't appropriate.

Yes, should we be relying on volunteers and charities to provide what should be state-run services?

I know the government funds some charities to a certain extent but is that right anyway? Give some money and ignore the problems, hoping kind hearted people will fill the gaps in services?

Volunteers are required of all ages. When my kids were in school I helped with cooking, reading, computers etc on a voluntary rota basis. I made cakes for fetes and helped fund raise for a new play school. Now dd is doing the same and she has a busy job. BUT it is always the same handful of volunteers every time doing everything.
Now I am still helping with the football club as I have done for the past 30 years and I would love to hand it over, if only someone would come forward. Why should retirees have a moral duty anymore than anyone else especially if they have done their bit in the past?

Is Volunteering a moral duty to "give something back?

Thinking about the OP and then JaneJudge's post:

No, volunteering should not be a moral duty and what are we meant to be giving back after a working lifetime of duty?

The government has a moral duty to provide services to those who need it but they all fail in some areas, some more so than others.
It is no-one's duty to fill the gaps where government fails.

However, some people may miss the structure, the comradeship of a career, feel they have more to offer by volunteering and that can only be a good thing for society.

Others may feel that, after a life of work and duty, they would like to spend retirement pursuing hobbies etc and that is fine too.

Those who do not actively volunteer may be helping in other ways, it doesn't mean they don't have a social conscience. They may donate to food banks even if they don't volunteer in one, give to the RNLI even if they don't go out to sea, donate to a local hospice or other charities.

Just quietly doing what they feel is their 'bit'.

I used to do frequent stints with a local org. that provided lifts for people who couldn’t use public transport or afford taxis - for Gp or hospital appts. etc. Once a month I also manned (personned?) the phone, taking the many requests and trying to find drivers - usually ended up doing most of them myself though.

There were some obvious p*ss takers, people in obviously new and expensive clothes, who looked on us as a free taxi service and would remark in passing on how they regularly ate at such and such a restaurant etc.

Most were genuine though, and it was usually those who appeared the poorest who’d try to give me a pound for my petrol.

I don’t do anything any more, though - dd has to go away for work fairly often, sometimes at short notice, when I’m needed to help with Gdcs 60 miles away, so can’t make any regular commitment.

When I was working I was on school PTA’s, typing up the minutes and fundraising at events for years. Himself did voluntary work as a sports coach.

Nowadays we enjoy our leisure time, are lucky to have plenty of friends and a good social life. Plus our lifestyle choice - living half a year here and half in Málaga - means it’s not conducive to commitments.

So I give in other ways. Once I got my state pension I seriously increased my debit debit amounts to the 3 charities dear to my heat.

*direct
*heart

Duh!

There's volunteering and volunteering. Not all voluntary activities are replaceable by paid workers. It's a massive subject.

JaneJudge

I'm uncomfortable with the idea that some volunteering is taking what should be paid jobs off people.

Just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

As local services have been cut, some charities that rely on volunteers have had to make up the short fall and sometimes it often isn't appropriate.

I agree, and not just for charities. As examples, the library service has faced savage cuts. At the same time, it is more difficult for people to train as qualified librarians, as bursaries were cut some time ago. Now anyone with a Masters degree is ineligible for a student loan to fund another one, even if they paid for the first one themselves (not just for librarians - this is true of all subjects). Many librarians used to enter the profession as a career change, but that route is now all but closed, as people can't afford to take time off to retrain as well as pay the fees upfront with no bursary to help with finances.

Not only that, but many libraries now have volunteer staff who are very well-intentioned but not qualified, and the whole nature of libraries has changed. Where once people could use them as a peaceful haven to write letters, complete application forms, learn to use computers etc, now they have knitting groups, children's story sessions and all manner of other noisy things going on in the name of inclusivity. All of that is nice for the people who go, and it's better that libraries are being used than closed, but it is now far more difficult for people with no quiet space at home to find a table, a computer and a bit of peace if they need it, whether to study for an exam or to fill in a form. Community centres should cater for group activities, and leave libraries as reading spaces. Dyslexics, people with ADHD and similar conditions often need the sort of quiet concentration that is hard to find in a busy family home. Not all unqualified staff are able to help with queries about where to find specialist information, so again, the nature of the service is different now, and meanwhile, paid jobs are being cut for both librarians and library assistants.

Another example is in schools, where well-meaning parents do the work of paid teaching assistants. When my children were at school, TAs were relatively rare, and it was (usually) mums who went in to help. Some were unmitigated busybodies who gossiped about the children (with no overview of possible reasons for the snapshots of behaviour they saw), and weren't constrained by the threat of being sacked. One 'jokingly' told my vegetarian son that it was ok to eat turkey dinosaurs (on the lunch menu) if he stuck to the stegosaurus ones, as they didn't eat meat ?.

Trained TAs on proper contracts, responsible to qualified staff can do a far better job, but parent helpers are free, and with school budgets what they are, Heads are turning back to them.

No, I don't think any of us have a moral duty to volunteer our services after retirement. I did a bit when I worked part-time, and I felt useful, but it was tiring.

Many of my jobs were fairly lowly, I was often overworked and underpaid and sometimes treated as if I was brainless. Why the heck should I do more of that for free?

I can fill my time as I wish with enjoyable hobbies, and I'm never bored. I jolly well earned my retirement.

I have never felt it a moral duty to volunteer. When my children were small i ran a mums and toddlers group because I wanted to, it was a service to the community and to my church, and fitted in with my family.
When I retired I needed something to do to keep my brain active, to mix wth others, to do something helpful. Every client I support is so grateful that it encourages me to continue.

I do that now Witzend. I like doing it it, meet different people, keeps my brain ticking over too.