Enabling Factors and Barriers to Volunteering (Potentials) in the Second Half of Life: The Role of Gender and Informal Caregiving in Germany

Abstract

This study investigates potential and actual volunteering in mid- and later life, with a focus on gender inequalities and potential barriers posed by informal caregiving. Data were drawn from the German Aging Survey (DEAS) 2017, comprising 3,247 women and 3,296 men born between 1920 and 1974. Respondents were categorized into three groups: those who volunteer, those interested in volunteering, and those neither volunteering nor interested. Multinomial regression analyses were conducted separately for men and women, using average marginal effects to examine gender differences. We find that men have higher volunteering rates than women. However, a higher proportion of women express interest in volunteering. Higher informal care responsibilities among women partly explain gender inequalities in actual volunteering. Policies promoting volunteer opportunities should acknowledge women’s higher interest and facilitate the reconciliation of volunteering with caregiving responsibilities to support volunteering in mid- and later life.