Time for My Life Now: Early Boomer Women's Anticipation of Volunteering in Retirement

Abstract

This study explored to what extent early Boomer women who work for pay will be interested in and committed to formal volunteering during retirement. Data for this hermeneutic study were gathered through 2 in-depth conversational interviews of 19 English-speaking early Boomer women living in New Brunswick, Canada. Interpretive analysis of interview data revealed that for these early Boomer women, consideration of volunteering in retirement revolves around analyzing the perceived costs and benefits, setting specific criteria for involvement, and recognizing the societal impacts of their refusal to volunteer or their limitation of commitment. Although not generalizable, the results of this study suggest administrators planning to recruit and retain retired early Boomer women to volunteer should not assume participation at the same rate or with the same commitment as previous generations. New models of volunteer recruitment and deployment may need to be developed to meet the expectations of these women. These participants indicated that formal volunteering will be for personal, not altruistic reasons, on their own terms through direct service; they are not interested in the consuming commitments of board and committee work or fundraising. Volunteering must be meaningful, something about which they are passionate and on their own schedule.