Human, Social and Cultural Capital Predictors of Early Baby Boomer Productivity in Mid-Life to Late Life: An Examination of Formal Volunteering Behavior

Background and Purpose:Productive activity supports successful aging by helping to maintain older adults’ cognitive and physical functioning and active engagement in life.  The Baby Boomer cohort experienced a period of dramatic change in social roles and institutions during the first two-thirds of their life course.  There is not a clear understanding of how predictors of volunteering—a productive activity of aging—might shift as this cohort transitions from mid-life to late life.  This study applies a capital framework to address this gap in knowledge by examining the human, social and cultural resources that contribute to formal volunteering engagement and intensity among Early Baby Boomers (EBB).

Method:Four time points across six years from a sample of 2,684 EBBs aged 51 and older from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 2004-2010) were analyzed using logistic regression and generalized estimating equations.  Baseline and longitudinal human, social and cultural capital factors and demographic variables functioned as predictors of formal volunteer engagement and its intensity. 

Results:High levels of cultural capital, defined as religiosity, significantly increased the likelihood of both formal volunteer engagement and high intensity volunteering among EBBs.  More frequent church attendance, in particular, increased the likelihood of volunteering with intensity.  Greater human capital and some forms of social capital also boosted the probability of volunteer engagement, but higher levels of one component of social capital (paid employment) significantly reduced the likelihood of high intensity volunteering.  In terms of intensity, productive activities of formal volunteering and paid employment appear to compete for EBBs’ time.  Hispanic ethnicity was associated with decreased likelihood of volunteering.  Gender was not a significant factor.  Volunteer engagement and intensity were stable during the observed period, in spite of the Great Recession during the latter waves of data.

Conclusions and Implications:Future research exploring the unique habitual, communal and doctrinal contributions that education and religion make to volunteerism may lead to more inclusive public policy and to volunteer programs that facilitate the participation of a wider diversity of individuals.  These efforts may increase awareness of and access to opportunities for formal volunteering among persons transitioning from mid- to late life.  Volunteer programs may also benefit by encouraging adults with full time employment to participate at low intensity during mid-life.  Programs should aim to increase the available opportunities and hours following retirement when there is less competition for individuals’ time.