Karsten Hank1, Marcel Erlinghagen. 1. Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, University of Mannheim, Building L13, 17, 68131 Mannheim, Germany. hank@mea.uni-mannheim.de
Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate the dynamics of volunteering in the population aged 50 years or older across 11 Continental European countries. DESIGN AND METHODS: Using longitudinal data from the first 2 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we run multivariate regressions on a set of binary-dependent variables indicating transitions from active volunteering to inactivity and vice versa. RESULTS: Volunteer transitions were affected by both time-invariant individual resources and changes in individuals' resources. Moreover, we found that the societal context in which older persons live not only has a significant impact on the prevalence of volunteering at a given point in time but that the dynamics of volunteering also vary by country. IMPLICATIONS: Our study supports the notion of volunteering as an important productive aging activity and underlines the importance of both life-course and social context factors as determinants of volunteer dynamics at older ages.
PURPOSE: To investigate the dynamics of volunteering in the population aged 50 years or older across 11 Continental European countries. DESIGN AND METHODS: Using longitudinal data from the first 2 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we run multivariate regressions on a set of binary-dependent variables indicating transitions from active volunteering to inactivity and vice versa. RESULTS: Volunteer transitions were affected by both time-invariant individual resources and changes in individuals' resources. Moreover, we found that the societal context in which older persons live not only has a significant impact on the prevalence of volunteering at a given point in time but that the dynamics of volunteering also vary by country. IMPLICATIONS: Our study supports the notion of volunteering as an important productive aging activity and underlines the importance of both life-course and social context factors as determinants of volunteer dynamics at older ages.
Authors: Jacobien Niebuur; Aart C Liefbroer; Nardi Steverink; Nynke Smidt Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2019-08-26 Impact factor: 3.390