Projects per year
Abstract
Civic engagement is increasingly relevant for healthy and active ageing and addressing social exclusion among older people. Current research focuses primarily on formal volunteering, overlooking other ways older people contribute to their families and communities. This study addresses these gaps by recognising civic engagement as multi-dimensional – including associational engagement, informal care-giving, formal volunteering, digital engagement and formal/informal political engagement – and exploring activity combinations among older individuals. Using data from the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey (33 European countries), it examines the civic engagement of 9,031 individuals aged 65+. Descriptive analysis maps their multi-dimensional civic engagement, while latent class analysis identifies distinct engagement profiles and explores which activities are combined. It also investigates the socio-structural and social capital resources associated with each profile. Findings reveal that 32 per cent of older individuals are not engaged in civic activities. Among the civically engaged, five profiles emerge, illustrating varied engagement across multiple activities. Many older people (35.8 per cent) combine several civic activities, albeit in different combinations. Informal care-giving can be found in all profiles; and for a large part of the population, it is their only civic activity, while another profile displays older Europeans engaged in several activities simultaneously. Higher levels of socio-structural resources are associated with greater diversity in civic engagement in later life. Interventions and policies therefore must consider the diverse circumstances and preferences of older people and valorise and include all forms of multi-dimensional civic engagement, including informal care-giving, in policy making.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-26 |
Number of pages | 26 |
Journal | Ageing & Society |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 22 Nov 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was conducted within the CIVEX \u2018Exclusion from civic engagement of a diverse older population: Features, experiences, and policy implications\u2019 project, led by Dr Rodrigo Serrat (University of Barcelona), and received funding through the Joint Programme Initiative: More Years, Better Lives. This particular publication is also made possible through the funding awarded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (B2/21E/P3/CIVEX), the Academy of Finland (345022) and the Spanish State Research Agency (PCI2021-121951). For more information on CIVEX, visit https://civex.eu/ .
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2024.
Keywords
- ageing
- associational engagement
- digital engagement
- informal caregiving
- latent class analysis
- mutidimensional civic engagement
- Civic engagement
- political engagement
- volunteering
Projects
- 1 Finished
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FOD113: Exclusion from civic engagement of a diverse older population: Features, experiences, and policy implications
1/10/21 → 30/09/24
Project: Fundamental