Volunteering among older people in Korea.
OBJECTIVE
Faced with aging societies, there is an immense need to better understand the nature of volunteering outside advanced Western industrial countries. As a case of a rapidly aging society, we identify robust factors associated with elderly volunteering in Korea in terms of a resource framework.


METHODS
Data were derived from the Social Statistics Survey conducted by the Korea National Statistical Office in 1999 (N = 7,135) and 2003 (N = 8,371). We first determined overall and age-related volunteer rates for Korea compared to the United States. Using logistic regression, we then examined the effects of human, cultural, and social capital variables on volunteering.


RESULTS
Approximately 6% of Koreans aged 65 years and older participate in volunteer programs. All human capital variables are positively related with volunteering. For cultural capital, those who identify their religion as Buddhism or Catholicism are more likely to volunteer than those who have no religion. But surprisingly, Protestantism does not consistently promote volunteering across both years. For social capital, older adults who live alone or with a spouse are more likely to volunteer than those living with both a spouse and children.


CONCLUSIONS
In contrast to human capital, cultural and social capital on elderly volunteering appears to be contoured by social contexts.
Kim
Jibum
J
Center on Aging, National Opinion Research Center, 1155 East 60th Street,. Chicago, IL 60637, USA. kim-jibum@norc.org
Kang
Jeong-Han
JH
Lee
Min-Ah
MA
Lee
Yongmo
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002016:Buddhism; D002410:Catholicism; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D014481:United States; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*