Parents’ Charitable Giving and Volunteering: Are They Influenced by Their Children’s Ages and Life Transitions? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study in the United States

Abstract

Earlier cross-sectional studies have suggested that parents’ levels of charitable giving and volunteering are influenced by transitions in their children’s lives, such as the arrival of a new baby, the entry of their oldest child into elementary school, and the leaving home of their youngest child. To better investigate this contention, I used longitudinal data from the 2001-2009 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. When a new baby arrived, parents’ charitable giving and volunteering decreased; when the oldest child reached the age of 2, their giving increased, but not their volunteering. When the oldest child entered middle and high school, parents’ charitable giving and volunteering increased; when their youngest child left the household, parents decreased their giving and volunteering and redirected their charitable giving toward health and environmental organizations. The negative effects on volunteering were stronger for mothers, whereas the positive effects on volunteering were stronger for fathers.