This second volume in the Institute of Medicine's series on America's Aging explores the various productive roles that the growing number of elderly individuals can play in society through volunteer work. Some of the issues addressed include the main incentives and impediments to elderly volunteerism, the various forms of unpaid productive work and how they affect the health and well-being of the volunteer, and the recruitment of elderly volunteers that is done by various organizations. For policymakers, economists, sociologists, gerontologists, and social services agencies, this is an indispensable resource for the future.
- America's Aging
- Copyright
- Preface
- Contents
- AMERICA'S AGING
- Summary
- INTRODUCTION
- Definitions of Productivity
- Unpaid Productive Roles: Needs and Contributions of Older Persons
- The Symposium on Productive Roles
- UNPAID PRODUCTIVE ROLES
- CHARACTERISTICS OF OLDER AMERICANS
- Labor Force Participation and Economic Status
- Educational Levels
- Household and Family
- Health
- OLDER AMERICANS AS A SOCIETAL RESOURCE
- Incentives and Disincentives
- Barriers to Organizational Voluntarism
- New Community Settings
- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- The Economics of Volunteerism: A Review
- WORK WITHOUT PAY FOR FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS
- Amount of Time
- Types of Volunteer Activities
- ECONOMIC ANAYLYSES OF THE REASONS FOR VOLUNTEERING
- Volunteering Motivated by Altruism
- Experience As Compensation for Volunteering
- The Effect of Family Obligations on Volunteering
- Policy Implications of the Reasons for Volunteering
- Lessons From Past Research
- WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
- Data on Volunteerism
- Motivations to Volunteer
- The Role of the Voluntary Sector
- CONCLUSIONS
- NOTES
- The Older Volunteer Resource
- THE NEED AND THE OPPORTUNITY
- THE CURRENT AND POTENTIAL OLDER VOLUNTEER POOL
- IMPEDIMENTS TO THE OLDER VOLUNTEER
- WHAT CAN BE DONE?
- Positive Appeal to Older People and Strengthened Recruitment
- Improved Recognition and Appreciation
- Improved Supervision, Development, and Management
- Removal or Reduction of Impediments to Older Volunteers
- Legal Restrictions
- Expenses
- Support and Encouragement
- Liability Insurance
- Age Bias
- NOTES
- Unpaid Productive Activity Over the Life Course
- PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES MEASURED AT THE FAMILY LEVEL
- Volunteer Time
- Emergency Help
- Unpaid Productive Work Around the House
- PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES MEASURED AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
- Housework
- Lifetime Patterns of Family Situations for Individuals
- Housework
- Total Productive Use of Time
- Substitutions of Paid and Unpaid Productive Time
- Individual Change
- Expressed Desires for More or Less Work
- Capacity—Illness and Disability
- Some Traps in Comparing Age Groups
- What Affects Older Persons' Productive Activity?
- WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
- Sociodemographic Aspects of Future Unpaid Productive Roles
- PROJECTIONS OF MAJOR POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS
- GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
- LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
- EDUCATION
- HOUSEHOLDS AND MARITAL STATUS
- KINSHIP RELATIONS
- HEALTH STATUS
- DISCUSSION
- REFERENCES
- Index