No abstract

Voluntary work has important functions for both society and individuals, in particular in older age. When older adults retire, they have more time available to volunteer, and may be more motivated to do so, to outweigh the loss of the work role. On the other hand, health declines and negative age stereotypes may hinder their engagement. With historical differences in the context of retirement, in societal views on aging and health status of older adults, the role of retirement for volunteering levels may have increased with historical time. However, historical improvements are usually most prominent among higher educated parts of the society. Therefore, new inequalities may develop through increased opportunities for voluntary work and social integration in retirement among higher, but not lower educated individuals. In the present study, we used sub-samples of individuals aged 55 – 75 in five cross-sectional waves (1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019) of the German Survey on Volunteering (Deutscher Freiwilligensurvey: FWS) to investigate how the association of retirement status and volunteering has changed with historical time. We find that whereas in 1999, retirees were less likely to volunteer than those not-retired, this relation has reversed with historical time, with retirees being more likely than non-retirees to volunteer in the latest wave. This effect seems to be merely driven by lower educated individuals. Our results highlight the need to consider historical change when investigating predictors of post-retirement activities and volunteering.

No abstract

The first years of retirement have often been seen as a typical time window to take up (or intensify) voluntary work. Due to the changing context of retirement and historical differences in resources, the role of retirement for volunteering may have changed with historical time. We compared individuals aged 60–70 in five cross-sectional waves (1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019) of the German Survey on Volunteering (Deutscher Freiwilligensurvey: FWS) to investigate how the association of retirement status and volunteering has changed. We found a negative association of retirement and volunteering, which was not significant once controlling for age, education, gender and region. While engagement levels seem to have increased with historical time, voluntary work seems to have become less time consuming. There were no historical differences in the association of retirement and volunteering. Our results highlight the role of historical time and contextual factors when investigating volunteering and post-retirement activities.

No abstract