Aging entrepreneurs and volunteers: Transition in late career

Abstract

Entrepreneurship and volunteering seem very dissimilar activities – one involves starting a business and the other giving freely of your time to benefit others. Yet both these forms of non-traditional employment can feature in late career transition as ways of continuing involvement in work. This chapter reviews theory and research on older people, entrepreneurship and volunteering including evidence on the characteristics and motivations of those who choose these two forms of activity, as well as consideration of the way policy, economic and institutional contexts constrain and condition these choices. Entrepreneurship is often associated with youth, yet those over 50 more frequently start new businesses, and appear to be more successful at surviving the critical first three years of operation than their younger counterparts. However, these new businesses often take the form of self-employment as a way out of unemployment, rather than growth-oriented enterprises that can provide jobs for others. As such, there is debate about the extent to which such ‘wage substitution’ enterprises should be supported by governments. Conversely, volunteering has become a normative role for older people: it is seen as a suitable way for them to use their skills and continue productive engagement with society. Yet there is evidence to suggest that retirement from full-time paid work does not lead to a substantial increase in volunteering. Theory and research exploring the relationship between paid work, volunteering and retirement is discussed as well as ways voluntary organizations could better attract and retain older volunteers.