Public Service/Volunteering
A New Definition for Volunteering and Giving Among the 45+ Population Finds Thirty Percent Are More Inclined to Volunteer Since 9/11
News Release
November 18, 2003
More than 80% of Americans aged 45 and older are involved in helping others without pay, found a new AARP survey released today on volunteering and giving.
The new AARP survey, Time and Money: an In-Depth Look at 45+ Volunteers and Donors, is one of the first studies to comprehensively examine volunteering and giving among the 45+ population, with over samples of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Hispanics. It also provides a new definition of volunteering and giving based on adding behaviors not captured by traditional research questions in this area.
This new approach to measuring volunteering and giving did result in a higher percentage of individuals as volunteers or donors. Specifically about 51% of the middle-aged and older population reported volunteering when asked the traditional question about serving in their communities (volunteer for non-profit charities, schools, hospitals, religious organizations, neighborhood associations, civic or other groups). However, an additional 36% reported behaviors that were not captured by the traditional volunteering question, but are considered to be services to communities and individuals.
"Looking at informal volunteering behaviors is important and include activities like organizing neighborhood clean-up projects, mowing the lawn for an elderly neighbor, a letter writing campaign to troops in Iraq, or any other positive social behaviors that result in the betterment of ones' community," Jennie Chin Hansen, AARP Board of Directors.
Overall key findings include:
- Over eight in ten Americans 45 and older say they are involved in helping others without pay at some level – through an organization or on their own - based on the expanded assessment.
- Thirty percent said that since 9/11, they felt a stronger need to volunteer.
- Most volunteering is sporadic, rather than regular.
- Elderly people (56%), children (47%), and neighborhoods (42%) attract the most volunteer interest.
- The motivations to volunteer start with altruism, including a sense of responsibility to others, and a desire to make a difference. Also, Americans 45 and older are motivated by religious beliefs, and by the potential for some type of personal satisfaction or need.
- When questions measuring giving were expanded to include non-organizational donations such as money given to family and non-family individuals in need, almost nine in ten have made a donation in the past year. Giving follows similar patterns to volunteering, with fully 87% saying they have given to one effort or another in the last year.
This study was designed to uncover the similarities and the differences among the 45+ population. The transformation of volunteering and giving is being driven by the greatest demographic shift in our nation's history. In 2000, there were 34.7 million individuals, nearly 12%, that were 65+ and by the year 2011, when the first boomers turn 65, that number rises to 40 million. By 2030, one in every five Americans will be over the age of 65 (U. S. Census, 2000). Unquestionably this aging of the population will have a tremendous impact on American life including volunteering and giving.
As this study suggests, the 45 and older population have already assumed responsibility for maintaining and improving civic life in America, and one example of this stewardship is older persons' contributions through community service and charitable giving.
Independent Sector's Giving and Volunteering in the United States 2001 indicates that 44% of people aged 50 and over volunteer, and within this age group, 58% among those 50 to 64 volunteer, while 42% among those 65+ volunteer. AARP's survey expands on the definition of volunteering and charitable giving by including representative samples of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, and, by probing actual behavior among respondents that may be considered to have community impact.
Traditionally, surveys looking at volunteering and giving focused on activities within organizations or other community structures and may not have adequately captured the volunteering and charitable giving behaviors among specifically, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Hispanics. AARP's survey expands how volunteering and charitable giving is measured to include a greater assessment of informal volunteering or activities performed outside of organizations. Many of these behaviors will be through organizations, while others will be informal within groups, or interpersonal among relatives, friends, and neighbors.
The overall results show that African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites are more alike than different in their actions and motivations to give time and money. However there are some differences regarding who and what these groups tend to offer their time and money.
Additional key findings include:
- African-Americans are among the most active volunteers with 90% likely to report volunteering on their own and with organizations. Their efforts tend to focus on homeless and hungry people, the rights of minorities, religious institutions, their neighborhoods, and people who need tutoring.
- Asian-Americans are more likely to volunteer on occasion rather than regularly, and are most likely to support museums, theaters, libraries, or other cultural and arts organizations. On average a higher percentage of Asian-Americans donate than other groups. (Asian-Americans 91%, African-Americans 85%, Hispanics 82%, and non-Hispanic Whites 88%).
- Hispanics volunteer the most hours per month (22 hours). They are the most likely to assist other immigrants in this country and to send money to help people in other countries.
- Non-Hispanic Whites and Asian-Americans tend to donate more financially with 36% of non-Hispanic Whites and 37% of Asian-Americans giving $500 and more. Non-Hispanic Whites are more likely to volunteer than the other groups with animals (34%), the environment (36%) and public servants including firefighters, police officers, and military personnel (37%).
"This groundbreaking report offers a broad understanding of the range of socially beneficial behaviors that create and sustain civil society," commented Jeff Love, AARP's Research Director. "More work must be done to further our understanding of the role and impact of organizational, informal, and individual volunteering and giving."
"In the coming years, the 50+ population will be healthier, will live longer and will continue searching for ways to change the world. We expect volunteering and giving to be a part of their lives as they enter retirement," stated Love.
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to making life better for people 50 and over. We provide information and resources; engage in legislative, regulatory and legal advocacy; assist members in serving their communities; and offer a wide range of unique benefits, special products, and services for our members. These include AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our quarterly newspaper in Spanish; NRTA Live and Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our Web site, www.aarp.org. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.