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Boomers May Need Push to Volunteer
June 24, 2004, The Chronicle of Philanthropy

By BEN GOSE

A national publicity campaign and small financial incentives may be needed to motivate baby boomers to get involved with charity and participate in other civic activities, says a new report by Harvard University's School of Public Health.

Compared with their parents, the so-called Greatest Generation, baby boomers are less likely to read newspapers, vote, or join a civic group or religious congregation. That bodes poorly for their volunteerism rates in retirement, the Harvard report said. The oldest boomers -- a term used to describe the 77 million people born in the United States from 1946 to 1964 -- will turn 65 in just seven years.

"Although close to one-third of boomers say they expect to participate in community service after retirement, there is a difference between intentions and actions, and boomers may need a push," the report says.

Even in less formal measures of involvement with others, boomers lag behind their parents. The boomers go on fewer picnics and spend less time with their families, the researchers said.

Such statistics are especially discouraging because -- contrary to conventional wisdom -- people volunteer more in midlife than in retirement. If that trend holds over the next few decades, the weak record of community involvement for boomers will become even worse.

The report recommends a few strategies for getting boomers more interested in volunteerism and community service. It notes, for example, that older people are most likely to volunteer at religious organizations, which makes houses of worship key places to spur community involvement.

Charities should also consider using new language to encourage retired people to help others. In areas dominated by low-income people, terms like "volunteer" and "community service" have negative connotations, such as court-ordered community service, according to research by the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network.

Experience Corps

A background paper included with the report notes the success of the Experience Corps, a program in 12 cities that pairs mentors and tutors over age 55 with young children. The tutors and mentors aren't true volunteers; they receive a small stipend for their service. The report notes that such "bridge jobs" to retirement can also be a bridge to a new form of community involvement and "help potential retirees envision later adulthood in somewhat different terms."

A series of "strategic media campaigns" -- similar to the designated-driver campaigns of the 1980s -- could also stimulate more volunteerism among boomers, the report says.

The report, "Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement," was sponsored by the MetLife Foundation and derived from a conference held in Cambridge, Mass., in October 2003. Marc Roberts, a professor of political economy at Harvard's School of Public Health, organized the conference. Margaret Gerteis, a senior manager at BearingPoint, a consulting firm, was the lead writer of the report. Free copies of the report are available at http://www.reinventingaging.org.