Neighborhood Influences on the Decision to Volunteer in later life

This contribution explores the relation between social and physical features of the neighborhood and participation in volunteering. Relatively strong evidence of the influence of place on older people's physical and mental health exists. However, the question how neighborhoods promote or hinder volunteer participation remains under-explored in social gerontology. The data for the present research are derived from the Belgian Ageing Studies, a project which uses structured questionnaires to collect information about various aspects of quality of life among older adults at the level of municipalities. Using data from Belgian elderly people (N=59.977), a multilevel logistic regression model is tested, with personal characteristics, subjective and objective neighborhood-level measures as independent variables, and volunteering as dependent variable. The results reveal that several social features (e.g. being highly involved in the neighborhood) emerged as positive predictors of volunteering. In addition, experiencing traffic unsafety demonstrates a lower rate of volunteering. The discussion highlights the potential of the local environment as promoters or barriers for volunteering.

Objectives:
1. After attending this session, participants will be able to understand the importance of volunteering in later life and the concept of aging in place.
2. Participants will also be able to understand which motivators and barriers are most important in explaining volunteering.