Formal Volunteering Among Economically Marginalized Older Adults in the U.S.: A Scoping Review
Creators: name: Baek, Jihye
name: Matz-Costa, Christina
name: Halvorsen, Cal
name: Byeongju Ryu
Publisher: name: OSF Registries
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Social Work
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences

description: The 2005 and 2015 White House Conference on Aging underscored the significance of civic and volunteer activities for healthy aging, marking it as a key initiative (White House Conference on Aging, 2015). In the U.S., approximately 29 million older adults have contributed 3 billion hours of service through organized volunteering (Kim &amp; Halvorsen, 2021; AmeriCorps, n.d.). The literature robustly supports the benefits of volunteering in later life, linking it to better health outcomes—including improved self-reported health, functional independence, reduced mortality, and enhanced cognitive function—as well as to psychosocial gains such as reduced depressive symptoms, and increased life satisfaction, social support, and self-efficacy (Anderson et al., 2014; Carr et al., 2015).
However, the ability and resources to volunteer are not evenly distributed. Disparities exist across different demographics: women volunteer more than men, and whites volunteer at higher rates than blacks, Asians, or Hispanics (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2013b). Factors such as education level, income, part-time work status, marital status, and having a volunteering spouse correlate positively with volunteering among older adults (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2013; Rotolo &amp; Wilson, 2006). Challenges to volunteering are more prevalent among older adults who are lower-income, caregivers, or disabled—circumstances often associated with lower socioeconomic status (McBride, 2007; Gonzales et al., 2015).
Research has advocated for greater inclusion of socioeconomically disadvantaged older adults in volunteerism (Cruikshank, 2013; Moody, 2001; Park &amp; Morrow-Howell, 2020; Morrow-Howell et al., 2015). Addressing barriers to participation could lead to increased volunteer engagement, with potential broader societal benefits, including reduced reliance on social insurance programs, enhancement of the gross domestic product, strengthened retirement security, and a fortified nonprofit sector.
Relative to the substantial body of evidence on volunteering among a broader older population, the specific experiences of older adults with low socioeconomic status are less explored (Kim &amp; Halvorsen, 2021; Jenkinson et al., 2013). A systematic and comprehensive scoping review of the current knowledge base is thus essential to inform future research and guide the development of policies and programs that facilitate volunteer opportunities for economically marginalized older adults. This study aims to systematically review empirical studies on volunteering among this demographic since the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, which brought the topic into focus.
Employing a five-stage scoping review methodology (Arksey &amp; O'Malley, 2005), this study addresses two research questions: 1) What are the factors influencing the likelihood of volunteering among economically marginalized older adults in the U.S.? 2) What are the associated outcomes of volunteering for these individuals?