Senior citizens do volunteer work – according to a report from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNSC), one in three volunteers is age 55 or older. That service, three billion hours annually from 20 million seniors, is valuable. The report estimates its worth to be $67 billion.
The report also highlights that the percentage of volunteers who are seniors rose over the last decade, from 25.1% in 2002 to 31.2% in 2011. The report cites senior volunteers participation in such diverse activities as responding to a West Texas fertilizer plant explosion, mentoring military children experiencing separation anxiety, and driving housebound seniors to doctor’s appointments.
This volunteerism doesn’t just benefit the economy though. An earlier report from CNSC highlights a few research findings. Volunteering for seniors is shown to correlate to a higher life satisfaction than those that don’t volunteer or work for pay as well as having a positive effect on mental and physical health.
