| Abstract: |
Objectives - Taking a cross-national comparative perspective, we investigate
linkages between volunteer work, informal helping, and caring among Europeans
aged 50 or older: Is the relationship between these activities characterized
by complementarity or by substitution? Is there evidence for the existence of
(unobserved) personality traits that foster engagement independent of a
specific activity? Methods - Based on 27,305 personal interviews from the 2004
Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we estimate
univariate and multivariate probit models, which allow us to analyze the
interrelationship between different productive activities and the
derterminants of individuals' engagement therein. Results - There is
substantial variation in the participation in volunteering, helping, and
caring between countries and regions. Independent of the general level of
activity in a country, we find evidence for a complementary and interdependent
relationship between all three activities. Discussion - Our findings not only
suggest an important role of societal opportunity structures in elders'
productive engagement, but they also support recent notions of the existence
of a general motivation for engagement in productive activities, independent
of a specific domain of activity. Thus, the study of motivations should be an
important aspect of future research on productive aging. |