Sunday, 16 January 2005 - 10:55 AM

This presentation is part of: Volunteer Service Among Older Adults

Socioeconomic Differentials in the Late Life Volunteer Experience

Socioeconomic Differentials in the Late Life Volunteer Experience

Purpose. According to a political economy of aging perspective, late life volunteering model emphasizes individual responsibility for being contributive and productive while ignores the effects of social structures. Socioeconomic constraints may impose barriers to volunteer roles and affect elders’ volunteer experience. This presentation examines how socioeconomic status, as a proxy for social class, affects various aspects of the volunteer experience among older adults.

Methods. This secondary analysis is on a subset of older adults (60 years and older) from the Americans’ Changing Lives study, a national longitudinal panel data. Multiple imputation (MI) was used to complete the missing data. The Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) method allows for modeling time-variant and invariant factors and controlling for within-subject correlated errors in longitudinal data. SES, an index created from education and income, is the primary independent variable. Nine volunteering variables regarding volunteering form, time commitment, organization type, and the total number of organization types were regressed on SES respectively, after controlling for socio-demographic, health, and social integration variables.

Results. Seven out of nine models demonstrated highly significant relationships between SES and volunteering. Lower mid class, upper mid class, and higher SES elders were more likely than low SES elders to be engaged in both formal and informal volunteering. SES was positively related to older volunteers’ time commitment. As SES levels went up, volunteer hours increased. Across five types of volunteer organizations, SES was most significantly associated with volunteering in educational, political, and other national and local organizations (e.g., hospitals, United Fund). Particularly, compared with low SES seniors, high SES elders were over four times more likely to volunteer in political groups, almost six times more likely to volunteer in other organizations, and 12 times more likely to volunteer in educational institutions. Also high SES volunteers tended to become involved in a wider range of volunteer organizations.

Implications. The findings suggest that volunteering is an elitist activity in later life. Higher SES elders with more social resources and skills are able to engage, commit more time, and volunteer in more types of organizations. Lower SES or marginalized elders, however, may not have equal access to structured volunteer roles in organizations, nor have resources or skills necessary for volunteer performance. Volunteer organizations or community agencies are in a position to create and expand volunteer roles for those motivated elders through providing skill training, social supports, transportation, and other facilitations. The strategies used in recruiting and training older volunteers need focus on overcoming barriers to volunteer roles among lower social classes.

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