California's Aging Opportunity
Reading: Reports, Research & Other Recommended Reading
Research and Reports
Baby Boomers and Volunteering: An Analysis of the Current Population Survey (2005)
The Corporation for National and Community Service and the USA Freedom Corps present results from analyses of 2002 - 2004 Current Population Survey data to estimate rates of community service among Baby Boomers.
Baby Boomers Envision Their Retirement II: Survey of Baby Boomers' Expectations for Retirement (2004)
This AARP reports presents findings from a national survey of adults ages 38 to 57. The report demonstrates how knowledge about and attitudes toward retirement have changed among Baby Boomers over the previous five years.
Boomers Are Ready for Nonprofits, But Are Nonprofits Ready for Them? (2007)
This Civic Ventures' report discusses how nonprofits are lagging behind the government and private sectors in efforts to both retain highly skilled potential retirees and actively recruit older hires from other industry sectors. The report describes some best practices in the nonprofit sector and information on private and public sector responses.
The California Assessment of Seniors and Service: A Report on Key Findings (2001)
This study was commissioned by CaliforniaVolunteers (formerly GOSERV, the Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism) and includes the results of a survey and focus groups of older California to explore their attitudes and behaviors around volunteering.
Civic Engagement in an Older America: Focus Groups Report (2005)
This report summarizes the Gerontological Society of America's effort to conduct focus groups with older adults. It presents their definitions of civic engagement, views on the purpose of later life, current civic engagement activities, and barriers to becoming civically engaged. It also discusses the policy and practice implications of these findings.
Keeping Baby Boomers Volunteering (2007)
The Corporation for National and Community Service reports on current volunteer rates for Baby Boomers and discusses what determines whether Baby Boomers continue to volunteer over time.
The Giving Years: Engaging the Time, Talent, and Experience of Older Californians in Intergenerational Service (2001)
This report, prepared by CaliforniaVolunteers, includes an initial set of recommendations for increasing older adult service in California. California's Aging Opportunity report builds on this earlier study.
New Face of Retirement: An Ongoing Survey of American Attitudes on Retirement (2002, 1999)
Civic Ventures' reports on 1999 and 2002 national surveys that examined the attitudes of adults ages 50 to 75 toward continuing to contribute to society in their retirement.
New Face of Work Survey (2005)
This Metlife Foundation and Civic Ventures report summarizes the results of a national survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Adults in their 50s and 60s were asked about what type of work they hope to do in the future and what they seek to accomplish through this work.
Planning for an Aging California Population: Preparing for the "Aging Baby Boomers" (2004)
This California Strategic Plan on Aging Advisory Committee's report identified "involvement" as one of the emerging trends in aging Baby Boomers in California.
Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement (2004)
This report from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Metlife Foundation focuses on key ways that the government, nonprofit organizations, business, philanthropy, faith-based institutions and the media can encourage retirees to volunteer.
Rewards of Giving: An In-Depth Study of Older Adults' Volunteer Experiences in Urban Elementary Schools (2006)
Public/Private Ventures, a nonprofit U.S. national research and policy organization, presents results from in-depth interviews with Experience Corps members.
Time and Money: An In-Depth Look at 45+ Volunteers and Donors (2003)
This national AARP survey was conducted to estimate how much adults contribute through community service and charitable giving.
Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life (2007)
The Corporation for National and Community Service produced this report using Bureau of Labor Statistics data gathered through a special "volunteering" supplement.
Volunteering Produces Health Benefits (2007)
According to a report from the Corporation for National and Community Service, older Americans who volunteer receive significant physical and mental health benefits for their charitable efforts, including added years to their lives. This study compiles compelling findings from more than 30 scientific studies that examine the relationship between individual health and volunteering.
50+ Volunteering: Working for Stronger Communities (2004)
The Points of Light Foundation's report presents a case for the importance of older adults' social contributions and highlights innovative programs, models, and strategies for sustaining older adults' volunteer activities.
Books
Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life (2007) by Marc Freedman:
This new book explores how Baby Boomers are inventing a new stage of work, not only for income, but also for the promise of more meaning and the chance to do work that matters. It tells the stories of encore career pioneers who are opting not to retire, but to work in new ways, on new terms and to new ends.
Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation Research, Policy, and Practice Perspectives (2006) edited by Laura Wilson and Sharon Simson:
This book presents current, state-of-the-art research, plus policy and practice perspectives about civic engagement and the Baby Boomer generation. It is designed to provide readers with new perspectives that will empower them to enhance civic engagement, locally, nationally and globally, both today and tomorrow.
Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America (1999) by Marc Freedman:
This book is one of the first, yet still widely read and cited, formal calls for mobilizing older adults' community contributions. It discusses the potential opportunity present in the aging society and to create new roles for older Americans to make their time, talent, and experience available for strengthening communities.