Essere volontari in età anziana: un esempio di Active Ageing

The social role played by elderly volunteers in Europe and in Italy is increasing: so, the paper analyses the policies in Europe and in Italy to enhance their social participation, intergenerational solidarity, practices of pro-sociality, as well as the elders’ social generativity at the national and European levels. A cluster analysis (with SPAD software) on a stratified randomized sample, representative of the Italian volunteers aged 65-74 years (N=146) engaged in pro-social activities, clarifies their contribution to social welfare and to personal wellbeing. A difference between young elderly (aged 65-69 years) and persons aged 70-74 emerges. Furthermore, volunteering in later life is associated with a reinforcement of self-fulfillment, and the generation of one’s social identity.