A Gendered Pathway: The Economic and Social Consequences of Divorce for Unpaid Volunteer Work

• In Event: 568 - Section on Altruism, Morality and Social Solidarity Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. Volunteering and Voluntary Associations

Abstract

Using four waves of panel data spanning 15 years, the authors tracked changes in 910 men’s and women’s unpaid volunteer work and identified some mechanisms by which transitions to divorce affect declines in volunteering. The results from structural equation modeling revealed that, for women, increasing financial strains occurred between Time 2 and Time 3 after divorce are responsible for declines in volunteering at Time 4. For men, the effect of transition to divorce between Time 2 and Time 3 on volunteering at Time 4 is explained by declines in social integration at Time 3. The authors concluded that a transition to divorce has isolating effects on volunteering through different mechanisms for women and men.

Authors

• Young-Il Kim, Baylor University

• Sung Joon Jang, Baylor University