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Lionel Prouteau University of Nantes Laboratoire d’économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique

Voluntary organization participation and volunteering of older people. What extent? What collective and individual benefits?. Lionel Prouteau University of Nantes Laboratoire d’économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique Brussels - 29 October 2009

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Lionel Prouteau University of Nantes Laboratoire d’économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique

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  1. Voluntary organization participation and volunteering of older people. What extent? What collective and individual benefits? Lionel Prouteau University of Nantes Laboratoire d’économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique Brussels - 29 October 2009 European Federation of Retired and Elderly People Fédération Européenne des Retraités et des Personnes Agées

  2. Summary 1. The participation of seniors in voluntary organizations: what extent? 2. The extent of seniors’ volunteering 3. Societal benefits from seniors’ volunteering 4. Individuals benefits for older volunteers

  3. 1. The participation of seniors in voluntary organizations: what extent? Data: The fifth wave of World Value Survey (2005-2008) Question asked to respondents: Now, I am going to read off a list of voluntary organizations. For each one, could you tell me whether you are an active member, an inactive member or not a member of that type of organization? • Church or religious organization • Sport or recreational organization • Art, music or educational organization • Labour Union • Political Party • Environmental organization • Professional organizations • Humanitarian or charitable organization • Consumer organization • Other

  4. Participation in voluntary organizations according to agePopulation over 15 years. Source : World Value Survey Wave 5.

  5. Proportion of seniors (%) : Religious organizationssource : World Value Survey Wave 5

  6. Proportion of seniors (%) : humanitarian and charitable organizationssource : World Value Survey Wave 5

  7. Proportion of seniors (%) : Sport and recreational organizationssource : World Value Survey Wave 5

  8. Proportion of seniors (%) : Professional organizations – Trade unionssource : World Value Survey Wave 5

  9. 2. The extent of seniors’ volunteering Previous studies have suggested that there exists a curvilinear relationship between age and volunteering, with middle-aged adults being more involved than older people (Chambré, 1987, Schön-Bühlmann, 2008). Data from British and French Surveys: United-Kingdom: Helping Out. A national survey of volunteering and charitable giving, National Centre for Social Research and Institute for volunteering research for the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, 2007. France: INSEE Vie associative Survey, 2002.

  10. Proportion of volunteers according to age (%)Source : United Kingdom: Helping Out. A national Survey of volunteering and charitable giving, Cabinet Office, 2007. France: Vie Associative Survey 2002, Insee

  11. Proportion of volunteers according to age in France (%)Source : Vie Associative Survey 2002

  12. Older volunteers give more timesource : 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, Statistics Canada; Vie Associative 2002 Survey, Insee.

  13. Senior are more often regular volunteers France : regular and occasional involvements according to age (distribution) – source Vie associative 2002 Survey - Insee

  14. 3. Societal benefits from seniors’ volunteering Contributions of Senior volunteers represent an important resource for some types of voluntary organizations. Proportion of volunteers involved in (%) :

  15. Contribution of seniors to voluntary work force: the case of France Time given by senior volunteers (60 years and over) represents 210 000 full time equivalent (FTE) employments that is to say more than a quarter of the total amount. Contribution to volunteer work according to age and sector

  16. Effects of seniors’ volunteering on social capital The voluntary organization participation of seniors and their volunteering help create and maintain social capital. In return, this social capital help seniors to keep individual relations, particularly among retired people or seniors who live alone.

  17. 4. Individuals benefits for older volunteers The desire to maintain social contacts and individual relations is an important motive for volunteering and for participating in associations among seniors Relational motivation for volunteering according to age (frequency - %)

  18. Other individuals benefits : Health and well-being Several studies suggest that volunteer work has favourable effects on physical health : • with regard to mortality risk (Moen, Dempster-McClain and Williams Jr., 1992; Sabin, 1993; Rogers, 1996; Oman, Thoresen and McMahon, 1999; Musick, Herzog and House, 1999) • with regard to time of serious illness and functional capacities (Moen, Dempster-McClain and Williams Jr., 1992) Favourable effects of volunteering on self-appraised health and more generally on well-being are also noticed (Van Willigen, 2000; Thoits and Hewitt, 2001; Piliavin, 2005). Voluntary work decreases the level of depression among people over 65 years of age (Wilson and Musick, 1999 and 2003). Reciprocal effects of personal health – well-being and volunteering .

  19. A need to examine some questions in detail Are the effects of voluntary work on health and well-being linear or is there an optimal amount of volunteering? Studies are sparse and not conclusive. Are these effects uniform or differentiated: • according to the characteristics of persons? • according to the type of voluntary tasks? How to explain these effects? An hypothesis among others : favourable effects of relational benefits above mentioned.

  20. Conclusion A huge need to improve our knowledge of overall volunteering and senior volunteering. It is necessary to implement the recent recommendation of ILO concerning surveys on volunteering THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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