Caregiving and volunteering: are private and public helping behaviors linked?
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between two forms of helping behavior among older adults--informal caregiving and formal volunteer activity.


METHODS
To evaluate our hypotheses, we employed Tobit regression models to analyze panel data from the first two waves of the Americans' Changing Lives survey.


RESULTS
We found that older adult caregivers were more likely to be volunteers than noncaregivers. Caregivers who provided a relatively high number of caregiving hours annually reported a greater number of volunteer hours than did noncaregivers. Caregivers who provided care to nonrelatives were more likely than noncaregivers to be a volunteer and to volunteer more hours. Finally, caregivers were more likely than noncaregivers to be asked to volunteer.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results provide support for the hypothesis that caregivers are embedded in networks that provide them with more opportunities for volunteering. Additional research on the motivations for volunteering and greater attention to the context and hierarchy of caregiving and volunteering are needed.
Burr
Jeffrey A
JA
Department of Gerontology, McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, 100 Morrissey Blvd., University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125-3393, USA. jeffrey.burr@umb.edu
Choi
Namkee G
NG
Mutchler
Jan E
JE
Caro
Francis G
FG
D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States; D014838:Volunteers