Internet use and volunteering among older Spaniards

Author:

Arpino BrunoORCID,Solé-Auró Aïda

Abstract

In nowadays digitalised societies the use of the Internet is increasingly important in our daily lives. Despite the persistent age digital divide, a growing number of older adults is connected to the Web and regularly uses the Internet. Understanding the implications of internet use for productive ageing is thus of increasing relevance. We focus on one important aspect of productive ageing, i.e. volunteering. Internet use may have an ambiguous effect on volunteering. On the one hand, according to a dystopian view, internet use may subtract time to off-line activities, including volunteering. On the other hand, the Internet may actually increase volunteering because, for example, people may find information about volunteering opportunities in the community on the Web. Few studies have empirically assessed the role of internet use in influencing the probability to volunteer, especially among older people.We focus on older people in Spain. Mostly, previous research either did not distinguish different age groups or focussed on young and middle-aged people only. Also, we are not aware of previous studies on the topic on internet use and volunteering among older people specific for the Spanish context. Our analyses are based on the Survey on Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We find a positive association between internet use and volunteering among older Spaniards that is stable across time and for groups defined by several socio-demographic and health characteristics.Our findings have important implications for policy and practice related to productive ageing and to improve people’s quality of life in an increasingly digitalised world.

Publisher

Center for Open Science

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