Volunteering among Seniors

 

The ageing of Europe's population is a crucial challenge for the 21st Century. In the years to come, a quarter of our European population will be older people and retirees. Seniors are not a homogeneous group of the population : you don't cope with the same problems wheter you are over 50, over 60, over 70 or over 80. Your retired life depends on your personal background (social , professional...). It is very linked to the cultural and geographical area you belong to (city or countryside, role of the family, existing social services...) There is a european network of seniors encouraging volunteering: silver economy europe.

 

Volunteering as a key issue for seniors

 

Nevertheless seniors usually have in common free time and life experience. These are the two main conditions for becoming a volunteer : time and skills to share with others. Free time means time freely chosen. Senior volunteering is also influenced by many factors : whether government policies/programmes exist, different practices and trends in family support, employment policies, education, learning and leisure opportunities, cultural issues, the status itself of older people in society...

 

Volunteering a key issue for the European Commission

 

The important role of older volunteers in society is acknowledged in Declaration 38 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1992) : "The Community will encourgae the European dimension of voluntary organisations with particular emphasis on the exchange of information and experience as well as on the participation of the young and the elderly in voluntary work". Moreover the Commission's communication of 1999 "Towards a Europe for All Ages - promoting prosperity and International Solidarity", promotes the concept of "addinfg life to years" through active involvement in the local community and society at large after retirement. The ageing of Europe's population is a priority subject for Community - wide cross- sectoral multidisciplinary research, in particular in economic and social fields with the aim to promote the quality of life, autonomy and social integration of older people.

 

Volunteering of the Seniors in perspective

 

Im most European countries, we observe the phenomenom that where we would expect retiring people to take a greater share in volunteer work, which might provide them with new activities, new perspectives and new social networks to replace the networks of paid labour, this is not true. Older people retire but don't spend more time in volunteering. They replace their professional activities by more passive forms of involvement (media consumption, leisure activities...). A European research should focus on the transition period around retirement and involve labour market partners, traditional social partners and seniors organisations. Ageing should be seen as a wealth and not as a weight for the younger generations. Demographic change in volunteering, as in the European societies in general, is not seen as a challenge but as a threat. A European research should also associate volunteer organisations, researchers and media to present a more dynamic approach of volunteering involving all ages. The intergenerational aspect is really important.

 

For further information

 

Intervention of iriv for a groupe Mornay.

 

Halba (Bénédicte), Bénévolat et volontariat en France et dans le monde, La Documentation française, Paris, 2003

Hôte (Jean -Michel), "La place des retraités dans une France solidaire et citoyenne", Année Internationale des Personnes âgées 1999, CLEIRPPA, Paris, 1999.

 

 

© IRIV , Paris, 2010