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Life after death: Widowhood and volunteering gendered pathways among older adults
Demographic Research ( IF 2.1 ) Pub Date : 2020-08-26 , DOI: 10.4054/demres.2020.43.21
Danilo Bolano , Bruno Arpino

Background: Spousal loss is one of the most traumatic events an individual can experience. Studies on behavioral changes before and after this event are scarce. Objective: This study investigates gender differences in pathways of volunteering before and after transition to widowhood among older adults in the United States. Methods: We use longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study and estimate fixed effects models with lags and leads to identify pathways of volunteering on a sample of 1,982 adults aged 50 and over. Results: The results show a U-shaped pattern with a decline in volunteering activities before the death of the partner and then a slight process of adaptation and recovery. The process is strongly gendered, with women considerably more resilient than men. Whether death was expected or not influences the effect of the partner’s death on volunteering, likely due to the pre-death burden of caregiving. Looking at the role of the partner’s volunteering before death, we found for both genders, but especially for women, that the odds of volunteering increase (decrease) if the partner was (was not) volunteering (complementarity hypothesis). Contribution: Given the positive effects of volunteering both for the volunteer and the society as a whole, our findings contribute to the literature highlighting that critical family events may affect participation in society of older people and demonstrating the heterogeneity of the effects, especially in terms of gender differences.

中文翻译:

死后的生活:寡妇和老年人自愿采取的性别途径

背景:失去配偶是个人可能遭受的最痛苦的事件之一。关于此事件发生前后的行为变化的研究很少。目的:本研究调查了美国老年人在过渡到丧偶之前和之后的志愿服务途径中的性别差异。方法:我们使用来自健康与退休研究的纵向数据,并估计滞后的固定效应模型,并通过对1,982名50岁以上的成年人样本确定志愿服务的途径。结果:结果显示为U形模式,在伴侣死亡之前志愿活动减少,然后经历了轻微的适应和恢复过程。该过程具有强烈的性别平等性,女性比男性更具韧性。是否会因预期死亡而影响伴侣的死亡对志愿服务的影响,这可能是由于临终前的照料负担所致。通过观察伴侣在去世前的志愿服务的作用,我们发现,无论男女,特别是对于女性,如果伴侣(不是)志愿服务(互补性假设),志愿服务的几率都会增加(减少)。贡献:鉴于志愿服务对志愿人员和整个社会都具有积极作用,我们的发现有助于文献研究,强调重要的家庭事件可能会影响老年人的社会参与,并显示出这种影响的异质性,特别是在性别差异。通过观察伴侣在去世前的志愿服务的作用,我们发现,无论男女,特别是对于女性,如果伴侣(不是)志愿服务(互补性假设),志愿服务的几率都会增加(减少)。贡献:鉴于志愿服务对志愿者和整个社会都具有积极作用,我们的发现有助于文献研究,强调重要的家庭事件可能会影响老年人的社会参与,并显示出影响的异质性,特别是在性别差异。通过观察伴侣在去世前的志愿服务的作用,我们发现,无论男女,特别是对于女性,如果伴侣(不是)志愿服务(互补性假设),志愿服务的几率都会增加(减少)。贡献:鉴于志愿服务对志愿人员和整个社会都具有积极作用,我们的发现有助于文献研究,强调重要的家庭事件可能会影响老年人的社会参与,并显示出这种影响的异质性,特别是在性别差异。
更新日期:2020-08-26
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