Discuss volunteer service in late adulthood

What will be an ideal response?

Older people contribute enormously to society through volunteer work, a trend that is strengthening. About one-third of 60- and 70-year-olds in industrialized nations report volunteering. Of those who do, over half give 200 or more hours per year. Younger, better-educated, and financially secure seniors with social interests are more likely to volunteer, women more often than men. Although most extend an earlier pattern of civic engagement, nonvolunteers are especially receptive to volunteer activities in the first few years after retiring as they look for ways to compensate for work-role losses. The retirement transition is a prime time to recruit seniors into these personally rewarding, socially useful pursuits. Volunteering grants seniors a continuing sense of making valuable contributions to society, and most sustain high commitment through their seventies. Time spent volunteering does not typically decline until the eighties. Even then, it remains higher than at any other time of life. Older adults eventually narrow their volunteering to fewer roles, concentrating on one or two that mean the most to them. Involvement in leisure activities and, especially, volunteer service is related to better physical and mental health and reduced mortality.