abstract: 'Although volunteering is considered a good strategy for successful

  ageing, not many older adults are engaged in voluntary work and those

  who are do so mainly sporadically. This study focuses on time invested

  in volunteering rather than on doing voluntary work or not, as is often

  done in studies so far. By combining the theory of resources for

  volunteering with a functional and structural approach to volunteering,

  this cross-sectional study seeks to shed light on a wide range of

  factors associated with the intensity of volunteering. The study is

  based on a sample of 1,599 volunteers aged 50 and older participating in

  the Norwegian study on Life Course, Ageing and Generation Study

  (NorLAG). The survey includes, among others, detailed information about

  demographics and time invested in voluntary work and questions about

  attitudes, motivations, structural and other potential barriers to

  volunteering. Multivariate linear regression analyses indicate that a

  religious attitude is associated with elevated hours spent on voluntary

  work, while co-habitation is associated with a decreased engagement in

  voluntary work. In addition, people who are motivated to volunteer

  because they find it interesting and because volunteering allows them to

  use their competence spend more time volunteering. Human capital, i.e.

  education, income and subjective health, are not associated with the

  number of hours invested in voluntary work. The likelihood of

  contributing more volunteering hours of older men is 17.5 per cent

  higher than that of older women. We found no indication of a relation

  between work status, functional limitations, urbanisation or ethnicity

  and voluntary work engagement. Policies aiming to increase time

  investment of volunteers should strive for an optimal fit between the

  nature of the voluntary work and the interests and skills of the

  volunteers. In designing interventions to stimulate higher engagement in

  voluntary work, one should further promote strategies for flexible time

  commitment.'
affiliation: 'Le, GH (Corresponding Author), OsloMet Oslo Metropolitan Univ, Fac Social
  Sci, Dept Social Work Child Welf \& Social Policy, Oslo, Norway.

  Le, Giang Huong, OsloMet Oslo Metropolitan Univ, Fac Social Sci, Dept Social Work
  Child Welf \& Social Policy, Oslo, Norway.

  Aartsen, Marja, OsloMet Oslo Metropolitan Univ, Norwegian Social Res, Oslo, Norway.'
article-number: PII S0144686X22001106
author: Le, Giang Huong and Aartsen, Marja
author-email: gianghuo@oslomet.no
author_list:
- family: Le
  given: Giang Huong
- family: Aartsen
  given: Marja
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1017/S0144686X22001106
earlyaccessdate: OCT 2022
eissn: 1469-1779
files: []
issn: 0144-686X
journal: AGEING \& SOCIETY
keywords: 'older adults; voluntary work; resource perspective; functional approach;

  oppressive factors'
keywords-plus: 'LIFE-COURSE; PEOPLE; PARTICIPATION; MOTIVATIONS; RESOURCES; MORTALITY;

  ADULTS; HEALTH'
language: English
month: 2022 OCT 12
number-of-cited-references: '57'
orcid-numbers: 'Aartsen, Marja/0000-0003-4246-7621

  Le, Giang Huong/0000-0003-3261-5088'
papis_id: f4628ecf39bcf8565d28a57d5309b3d6
ref: Le2022understandingvolunte
researcherid-numbers: 'Aartsen, Marja/F-3166-2013

  '
times-cited: '0'
title: Understanding volunteering intensity in older volunteers
type: Article; Early Access
unique-id: WOS:000865977900001
usage-count-last-180-days: '5'
usage-count-since-2013: '12'
web-of-science-categories: Gerontology
year: '2022'