This seminar was the third in a series of seminars focusing on volunteering in a fair society organised by IVR in partnership with the ESRC and Northumbria University. This event explored how individuals and communities can most effectively make their voices heard. Eddy Hogg from Northumbria University discusses volunteering in older age. Past presentations from the Institute of Volunteering Research website can be found at the following location - http://www.ivr.org.uk/ivr-events/ivr-past-events

1. Using a lifecourse
perspective to explore
volunteering in older age
Eddy Hogg
Northumbria University

2. Outline
• The theoretical context; the lifecourse and
different work roles
• Three exemplar biographies of older
volunteers
• Broader patterns of voluntary engagement

3. The Lifecourse
• Movement away from a stable model of aging
as a linear process (Rossi, 1980; Katz and Monk, 1993)
• Instability and unexpected events across the
lifecourse
• Lifecourse volunteering; constant, serial and
trigger volunteers (Davis Smith and Gay, 2005)

4. Conceptualising
Work Roles
• An inclusive approach to work activities; paid
and unpaid, public and domestic, embedded
in household (Glucksmann, 1995; 2000; 2005)
• Volunteering is a work role which individuals
who wish to must find space for (Taylor, 2004; Williams,
2011)
• But current analyses only looks at a cross-
section in time, not over the lifecourse

5. Methods
• Volunteer Managers acted as gatekeepers to
26 older volunteers
• Biographical interviews, looking at
volunteering and other work roles across the
lifecourse
• Transcribed, coded and analysed. Different
work roles mapped out.

6. Eric - Constant
• Paid Work (PW):
draughtsman, lecturer,
business advisor
• Domestic Roles (S & C):
wife & children
• Volunteering (V): Youth
Association, then more in
retirement

7. Constant

8. Grace - Serial
• Paid Work (PW): graphic designer,
journalist, mental health nurse, own
business
• Domestic Roles (S & C):
marriage, children, divorce and
remarriage
• Volunteering (V): playgroup,
swimming, mobile library, meals on
wheels, health committees,
advocacy

9. Serial

10. Jack - Trigger
• Paid Work (PW): senior manager
in manufacturing company
• Domestic Roles (S & C): wife &
adopted children
• Volunteering (V): church, local
school and soup kitchen in
retirement

11. Trigger

12. Conclusions
• Volunteering is part of a mix of work
roles which individuals undertake
• Individuals have to manage their time
and energy, to find space for
volunteering
• They do so in different ways at different
times, embedded in households

13. Any Questions?
edward.hogg@northumbria.ac.uk