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“Charity Begins at Home”: Informal Caring Barriers to Formal Volunteering Among Older People

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Abstract

Formal volunteering is an important economic and social activity. In many countries, prevalence of volunteering is decreasing overall, including among older people who constitute a major volunteering resource. This qualitative study explored reasons for non-volunteering among seniors, with a focus on those who attribute their non-volunteering to their existing helping commitments. Forty-nine Australian interviewees aged 60 + years described a range of social, psychological, and temporal factors that resulted in their prioritization of informal rather than formal volunteering activities. These factors are mapped onto a theoretical framework matrix, with social identity and social capital theories appearing to possess the most explanatory power. The findings suggest that programs designed to encourage formal volunteering among older people need to be implemented in a manner that recognizes that members of this group can hold many other responsibilities that limit their ability to participate, especially those assisting in the care of multiple generations.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Nicole Biagioni, Zenobia Talati, and Caitlin Worrall for their assistance with data collection.

Funding

The study was funded by a Discovery Project Grant from the Australian Research Council (Grant No. DP140100365).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Curtin University, Kent St, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia

    Simone Pettigrew & Michelle Jongenelis

  2. School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Ben Jackson

  3. School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia

    Robert U. Newton

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  1. Simone Pettigrew
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  2. Michelle Jongenelis
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Correspondence to Simone Pettigrew.

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The study received clearance from a University Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval No. HR21/2014). All participants provided signed informed consent.

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Pettigrew, S., Jongenelis, M., Jackson, B. et al. “Charity Begins at Home”: Informal Caring Barriers to Formal Volunteering Among Older People. Voluntas 30, 921–931 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-018-0017-8

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