Volunteering and social exclusion in the second half of life: do volunteers feel less socially excluded?

Abstract

Key messages: In 2023, one in five people in the second half of life were involved in voluntary work in an organisation. At 11.5 per cent, significantly fewer people in the 76 and older age group were involved in voluntary work than in the 43 to 75 age groups (19.7% to 23.4%). In the second half of life, women are significantly less likely to volunteer than men. In 2023, 16.0 per cent of women aged 43 and over were involved in voluntary work, compared to 23.7 per cent of men. People at risk of poverty volunteer particularly rarely. Only 8.7 per cent of people aged 43 and over with an income below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold were involved in volunteering in 2023, which is significantly less than people with a medium (20.6%) or high income (26.6%). People with health restrictions are less likely to volunteer than people without health restrictions. In 2023, 15.7 per cent of people who stated that they had health restrictions carried out voluntary work, while 22.5 per cent of people without health restrictions did so. People who volunteer feel less socially excluded than those who do not volunteer. With a mean value of 1.54 (on a scale of 1 to 4), the feeling of exclusion was less pronounced overall among people in the second half of life who volunteer than among people who do not volunteer (a mean value of 1.68). Differences in the perception of exclusion according to volunteer participation are particularly evident among older people. The average perception of exclusion was lower among volunteers of retirement age than among non-volunteers. In the age groups up to retirement age, the extent of perceived exclusion did not differ significantly between volunteers and non-volunteers. Women in particular feel less socially excluded when they volunteer. The average feeling of exclusion was less pronounced among women who volunteered than among women who did not volunteer. Among men, the mean exclusion values did not differ significantly between those who volunteered and those who did not.