Third Age Volunteers: Patterns of Participation in Volunteering

During past decades, volunteering has become more appealing to different sociodemographic groups and for Third age people in particular. More than 1/3 of Russians over 56 are involved in volunteer practices (ASI, 2015). Elderly volunteers participate in various events, form their own thematic communities in social networks and take courses in resource volunteer centers. While the motives of older people's participation in volunteer activities are widely discussed by foreign researchers, some important aspects of their involvement remain poorly understood in the Russian context. Thus, the study of subjective justifications for the participation of Third Age volunteers in volunteer practices requires further study. The purpose of the study is to identify reasons and justifications, which are used by senior volunteers for describing their participation in volunteerism. The subject of the research is the repertoire of justifications for volunteer participation of seniors. The research is carried out in qualitative methodology, which allows us to reveal the subjective meanings of the arguments that senior volunteers operate with, explaining their participation in the studied practice, and also to reveal the phenomenon of interest from different angles. According to the results of individual interviews with volunteers from 55 to 65 years, information channels on the volunteer activity of "silver" volunteers were established, the repertoire of their volunteer participation was determined before the retirement age, the criteria for selecting participation measures were identified and described, the practical difficulties faced by "silver "Volunteers during the performance of their duties and other subjects. The results of the research can be adapted for the practical purposes of resource centers (such as, for example, «Mosvolonter») and used in the development of Third Age Universities programs.