title: Retired women and volunteering: the good, the bad, and the unrecognized.
abstract: In this article, we examine varied attitudes and practices toward volunteering in later life, as shared by a group of 40 retired women. We categorize women based on their engagement in retirement and label the categories according to societal expectations as follows: traditional volunteers as "good," nonvolunteers as "bad," and caregiving volunteers as "unrecognized." Using critical gerontology and a feminist framework, we juxtapose the lived experiences of retired women with a prevailing discourse on successful aging and civic engagement. We advocate for societal recognition of caregiving as a valuable form of volunteering, as well as the need to respect multiple ways in which older women experience and find meaning in later life.
authors.affiliation: Family and Child Studies Department, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA. nesteruko@mail.montclair.edu
authors.forename: Olena
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nesteruk
authors.forename: Christine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Price
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology*