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Volunteering in Retirement: Perceptions of Midlife Workers
Deborah B. Smith
University of Missouri, Kansas City
Using a life course perspective as well as continuity and role theories, this research investigates midlife workers’perceptions of volunteering as part of anideal retirement life style. The Study of Midlife gathered data from 258 working respondents ages 50 to 64 on demographic information, retirement plans, and voluntarism. The data are consistent with continuity and role theories. Those who consider the volunteer role highly salient are much more likely to see volunteering as part of an ideal retirement lifestyle as are those who frequently attend religious services. Workers less than 5 years away from planned retirement are less likely to see voluntarism as part of an ideal retirement lifestyle, regardless of age, indicating that location in one’s own life course influences perceptions of volunteering in retirement. Implications for volunteer recruitment strategies for nonprofit organizations are discussed.
Key Words: volunteering • retirement • midlife • perception • voluntarism
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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1,
55-73 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764003260591
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