IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i7p2665-d338031.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Socially Active Aging and Self-Reported Health: Building a Sustainable Solidarity Ecosystem

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Gil-Lacruz

    (Departamento de Dirección y Organización de Empresas, Escuela de Ingeniería y Arquitectura, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain)

  • Marta Gil-Lacruz

    (Departamento de Psicología y Sociología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain)

  • María Isabel Saz-Gil

    (Departamento de Dirección y Organización de Empresas, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Universidad de Zaragoza, 44003 Teruel, Spain)

Abstract

Senior volunteering is associated with improved welfare, in addition to contributing to social development. Thus, the involvement of seniors in non-profit organizations (NPO), the third sector, or the social economy is encouraged by European national governments. At the organizational level, the situation for older volunteers in the third sector has improved in recent years, mainly due to European legal regulations. Despite a certain degree of homogenization across European countries, significant national differences persist in the adoption and promotion of volunteering. The present study examines the link between self-reported health and participation in volunteering activities among European seniors, stratified by sex and generation (the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomer Generation). We focus our analysis on seniors living in Germany, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and Ukraine. Analyses were conducted using empirical micro data from the World Values Survey (WVS; 1994/98, 2005/09 and 2010/14). Our results demonstrate the positive impact of volunteering on health status among the elderly, although we observed marked differences in the associated benefits between sexes, generational cohorts, and countries. Public policies should be developed with this important source of social capital in mind, but should also seek to address existing inequity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Gil-Lacruz & Marta Gil-Lacruz & María Isabel Saz-Gil, 2020. "Socially Active Aging and Self-Reported Health: Building a Sustainable Solidarity Ecosystem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2665-:d:338031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2665/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/7/2665/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kimiko Tomioka & Norio Kurumatani & Hiroshi Hosoi, 2015. "Social Participation and the Prevention of Decline in Effectance among Community-Dwelling Elderly: A Population-Based Cohort Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2011. "Quality and quantity: the role of social interactions in individual health," AICCON Working Papers 84-2011, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    3. Kathleen Day & Rose Annue Devlin, 1998. "The Payoff to Work without Pay: Volunteer Work as an Investment in Human Capital," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 31(5), pages 1179-1191, November.
    4. Cahit Guven, 2011. "Are Happier People Better Citizens?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 178-192, May.
    5. Doyal, Lesley, 2000. "Gender equity in health: debates and dilemmas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 931-939, September.
    6. Moss, Nancy E., 2002. "Gender equity and socioeconomic inequality: a framework for the patterning of women's health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 649-661, March.
    7. Ana Gil-Lacruz & Carmen Marcuello, 2013. "Voluntary Work in Europe: Comparative Analysis Among Countries and Welfare Systems," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 371-382, November.
    8. Kathleen M. Day & Rose Anne Devlin, 1996. "Volunteerism and Crowding Out: Canadian Econometric Evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(1), pages 37-53, February.
    9. Franz Hackl & Martin Halla & Gerald J. Pruckner, 2007. "Volunteering and Income – The Fallacy of the Good Samaritan?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 77-104, February.
    10. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Harvey S. James, Jr., 2011. "Is the Just Man a Happy Man? An Empirical Study of the Relationship between Ethics and Subjective Well‐Being," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 193-212, May.
    12. Nancy Morrow-Howell, 2010. "Volunteering in Later Life: Research Frontiers," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 65(4), pages 461-469.
    13. Fiorillo, Damiano & Nappo, Nunzia, 2014. "Formal and informal volunteering and health across European countries," MPRA Paper 60210, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Binder, Martin & Freytag, Andreas, 2013. "Volunteering, subjective well-being and public policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 97-119.
    15. Fabio Sabatini, 2008. "Social Capital and the Quality of Economic Development," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 466-499, August.
    16. Borgonovi, Francesca, 2008. "Doing well by doing good. The relationship between formal volunteering and self-reported health and happiness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2321-2334, June.
    17. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2011. "Quality and quantity: The role of social interactions in self-reported individual health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(11), pages 1644-1652.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. María Isabel Saz-Gil & José Paulo Cosenza & Anabel Zardoya-Alegría & Ana I. Gil-Lacruz, 2020. "Exploring Corporate Social Responsibility under the Background of Sustainable Development Goals: A Proposal to Corporate Volunteering," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.
    2. Marcel Pikhart & Blanka Klimova, 2020. "Maintaining and Supporting Seniors’ Wellbeing through Foreign Language Learning: Psycholinguistics of Second Language Acquisition in Older Age," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Qi Ma & Alan H. S. Chan & Pei-Lee Teh, 2020. "Bridging the Digital Divide for Older Adults via Observational Training: Effects of Model Identity from a Generational Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Elizabeth Wianto & Elty Sarvia & Chien-Hsu Chen, 2021. "Authoritative Parents and Dominant Children as the Center of Communication for Sustainable Healthy Aging," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-18, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fiorillo, Damiano & Nappo, Nunzia, 2014. "Volunteering and perceived health. A European cross-countries investigation," MPRA Paper 72313, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    2. Damiano Fiorillo & Nunzia Nappo, 2017. "Formal volunteering and self-perceived health. Causal evidence from the UK-SILC," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 75(2), pages 112-138, April.
    3. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2015. "Structural social capital and health in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 129-142.
    4. Damiano Fiorillo, 2011. "Do Monetary Rewards Crowd Out The Intrinsic Motivation Of Volunteers? Some Empirical Evidence For Italian Volunteers," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 82(2), pages 139-165, June.
    5. Francesca Modena & Concetta Rondinelli & Fabio Sabatini, 2014. "Economic Insecurity and Fertility Intentions: The Case of Italy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(S1), pages 233-255, May.
    6. Ateca Amestoy, Victoria María & Cortés Aguilar, Alexandra & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2011. "Social Interactions and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Latin America," DFAEII Working Papers 1988-088X, University of the Basque Country - Department of Foundations of Economic Analysis II.
    7. Sabatini, Fabio, 2014. "The relationship between happiness and health: Evidence from Italy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 178-187.
    8. Marchesano, Katia & Musella, Marco, 2020. "Does volunteer work affect life satisfaction of participants with chronic functional limitations? An empirical investigation," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    9. Damiano Fiorillo, 2010. "Volunteer work and domain satisfactions: Evidence from Italy," Discussion Papers 6_2010, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    10. Fiorillo, Damiano & Nappo, Nunzia, 2014. "Formal and informal volunteering and health across European countries," MPRA Paper 60210, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Bruna, Bruno & Damiano, Fiorillo, 2009. "Why without Pay? The Intrinsic Motivation between Investment and Consumption in Unpaid Labour Supply," CELPE Discussion Papers 111, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    12. Jens Detollenaere & Sara Willems & Stijn Baert, 2017. "Volunteering, income and health," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-11, March.
    13. Lane, Tom, 2017. "How does happiness relate to economic behaviour? A review of the literature," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 62-78.
    14. Bruno, Bruna & Fiorillo, Damiano, 2013. "Voluntary work and labour income," MPRA Paper 43995, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Victoria Ateca-Amestoy & Alexandra Aguilar & Ana Moro-Egido, 2014. "Social Interactions and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Latin America," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 527-554, June.
    16. Damiano Fiorillo & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Nunzia Nappo, 2020. "Individual Heterogeneity in the Association Between Social Participation and Self-rated Health: A Panel Study on BHPS," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 645-667, September.
    17. Dolan, Paul & Krekel, Christian & Shreedhar, Ganga & Lee, Helen & Marshall, Claire & Smith, Allison, 2021. "Happy to help: the welfare effects of a nationwide micro-volunteering programme," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114387, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Koch, Christian, 2013. "The Virtue Ethics Hypothesis: Is there a nexus between virtues and well-being?," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 80054, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:7:p:2665-:d:338031. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.