Socially Active Aging and Self-Reported Health: Building a Sustainable Solidarity Ecosystem

Ana Gil-Lacruz, Marta Gil-Lacruz and María Isabel Saz-Gil
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Ana Gil-Lacruz: Departamento de Dirección y Organización de Empresas, Escuela de Ingeniería y Arquitectura, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Marta Gil-Lacruz: Departamento de Psicología y Sociología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
María Isabel Saz-Gil: Departamento de Dirección y Organización de Empresas, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Universidad de Zaragoza, 44003 Teruel, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Senior volunteering is associated with improved welfare, in addition to contributing to social development. Thus, the involvement of seniors in non-profit organizations (NPO), the third sector, or the social economy is encouraged by European national governments. At the organizational level, the situation for older volunteers in the third sector has improved in recent years, mainly due to European legal regulations. Despite a certain degree of homogenization across European countries, significant national differences persist in the adoption and promotion of volunteering. The present study examines the link between self-reported health and participation in volunteering activities among European seniors, stratified by sex and generation (the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomer Generation). We focus our analysis on seniors living in Germany, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and Ukraine. Analyses were conducted using empirical micro data from the World Values Survey (WVS; 1994/98, 2005/09 and 2010/14). Our results demonstrate the positive impact of volunteering on health status among the elderly, although we observed marked differences in the associated benefits between sexes, generational cohorts, and countries. Public policies should be developed with this important source of social capital in mind, but should also seek to address existing inequity.

Keywords: ageing; health; non-profit organizations; public policies; social economy; Sustainable Development Goals; volunteering; well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2665-:d:338031

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