Determinants of volunteer labor supply of the elderly

In 2006, about one million Austrians aged 50 years and older participated in some way in volunteer work. This corresponds to 39 percent of this population group. In the light of an ageing society, services provided voluntary and without remuneration by older people for the benefit of other people outside the own household start to enjoy greater public recognition.
In contrast to debates that focus on the growing burden of population ageing, the topic of volunteer work of the elderly highlights the productive potential of older people. Volunteer activities of older persons depend on a set of factors. Knowledge about the influences on volunteering of older people is relevant from a political as well as from a scientific perspective for the evaluation of the (future) productive potential of older generation. Furthermore, it is important for organizations that depend on the recruitment of volunteers to fulfill their organizational task.
The projects starts using a multidisciplinary approach to indentify potential influences on the participation of the elderly in volunteer activities. In a second step, using data from a survey conducted by Statistics Austria in 2006, the determinants of volunteer labor supply of Austrian people in later life will be estimated.