Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies

Author	Cohort	Country	Study populationa	Mean ageb	SD ageb	Range ageb (years)	Female (%)	Year of baselinec	Study duration (years)	Waves (n)	Outcome	Outcome measurement	Type of voluntary workd	Sample size (n)	Volunteering at baseline (%)	Volunteering at follow-up (%)
Ajrouch et al. [18]	SRHLCe	USAf	Adults aged ≥50 y	53,9	N.R.g	50-100	60,3	1992	13	2	Volunteering {No vs. Yes}	“Do you do any volunteering?”	Mixed	499	N.R.	32,3
Bartels et al. [19]	BHPSh	UKi	Employed individuals aged ≤60 y	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	1991	16	11	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Volunteering is measured as “being active in organizations”	Formal	12,378	N.R.	N.R.
Bekkers [20]	GINPSj	NLk	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	2002	4	3	- Volunteer engagement - Volunteer cessation	Volunteering is measured as “being active as a volunteer in the past year”	Mixed	1233l; 731m	56,6	44,1
Broese van Groenou & Van Tilburg [21]	LASAn	NL	Adults aged between 55 and 69	65,1	5,0	55–69	N.R.	1992o/2002p	6	3q	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Current volunteering	Formal	1357o; 1388p	38,0o/45,0p	N.R.
Choi & Chou [22]	MIDUSr	USA	English speaking adults aged 55–84 y at wave 2 with ≥1 telephone in the household	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	54,0	1995/1996	9	2	- Volunteer engagement - Volunteer cessation	“On average, about how many hours per month do you spend doing formal volunteer work?”	Formal	917	35,6	41,4
Cramm & Nieboer [23]	N.A.s	NL	Older adults aged ≥70 y living in Rotterdam	77,5	5,8	70–101	57,0	2011	2	2	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Voluntary activities carried out in the past year	Formal	588	18,5	15,5
Curl et al. [24]	HRSt	USA	Adults aged ≥65 y reported being able to drive at baseline	73,8	6,5	N.R.	48,3	1998	12	7	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Voluntary work carried out in the past 12 months	Formal	4788	34,6	N.R.
Curl et al. [25]	HRSt	USA	Respondents and spouses, aged ≥65 y, able to drive at baseline	73,9u/ 71,5v	5,4u / 5,0v	N.R.	50,0	1998	12	7	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Voluntary work carried out in the past 12 months	Formal	2914w	40,0u / 41,5v	N.R.
Einolf & Philbrick [26]	PSIDx	USA	Individuals never married at baseline	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	2003	2	2	-Volunteering {Yes vs. No} -Religious volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“How often did you volunteer at or through….”	Formal	452y; 610z	Rates at baseline and follow-up are not presented. Average rates for the two waves: 25,3%aa; 15,5%ab
Hank & Erlinghagen [27]	SHAREac	11 European countries	Individuals aged ≥50 y	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	2004/2005	2	2	- Volunteer engagement - Volunteer cessation	“Have you done any of these activities in the last month?” - “done voluntary or charity work”	Formal	18,057	10,0	10,8
Johnston [28]	ACLad	USA	Individuals aged 25 and older living in the contiguous US.	54,0ae	N.R.	N.R.	54,0	1986	16	4	- Volunteering {Yes vs. No} - Religious institution volunteering {Yes vs. No} - Nonreligious institution volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Volunteer work done in the last year	Formal	1283af; 983ag; 1272ah	40,0	53,0
Lim & Mac Gregor [29]	FMai	USA	Respondents who report that they do not attend religious services on a regular basis	47,3	16,0	N.R.	47,0	2006	5	2	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Volunteering in the past 12 months	Mixed	510	46,0	51,0
McNamara & Gonzales [30]	HRSt	USA	Individuals aged 50–80	63,0aj	N.R.	N.R.	58,7	2000/2001	8	5	-Volunteer engagement -Volunteer cessation	“Have you spend any time in the past 12 months doing volunteer work for charitable organizations?”	Formal	4611ak; 2961al	45,1	N.R.
Mike et al. [31]	HRSt	USA	Individuals ≥50 y, not volunteering and currently working/unemployed/retired	71,9	10,37	N.R.	54,0	2006/2008	2	2	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“Have you spent any time in the past year volunteering?”	Mixed	5017	0,0	13,6
Nesbit [32]	PSIDx	USA	Household heads and their spouses	44,0	N.R.	N.R.	55,0	2003	2	2	-Religious volunteering {Yes vs. No} -Secular volunteering {Yes vs. No)	Volunteering in the last year	Formal	11299am; 11354an	27,0	29,0
Okun et al. [33]	ACLad	USA	Individuals aged ≥65 y, reported volunteering in the past year	71,9	5,5	N.R.	71,0	1986	3	2	Volunteer cessation	Having done volunteer work in the last 12 months	Formal	380	100,0	61,0
Parkinson [34]	ALSWHao	Australia	Women aged 70–75 y	N.R.	N.R.	N.R.	100	1996	9	4	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“Do you do any volunteer work for any community or social organizations?”	Mixed	7088	N.R.	24,5
Pavlova & Silbereisen [35]	Jena studyap	Germany	Individuals aged 16–43 and 56–75 years	38,1aq / 60,2ar	3,9aq / 3,9ar	N.R.	57,4aq / 44,6ar	2005ar/2009as	1	2	-Volunteer engagement -Volunteer cessation	Participation in voluntary work in the past 12 months	Formal	1560aq; 518ar	20,6ar; 34.5as	31,3
Pavlova & Silbereisen [36]	Jena Studyap	Germany	Individuals aged 56–75 years	65,9	5,8	56–76	52,4	2009	1	2	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	Participation in voluntary work in the past 12 months	Formal	602	32,5	35,9
Son & Wilson [37]	MIDUSr	USA	English speaking adults aged 25–74 y, living in the coterminous US	42,8	12,5	N.R.	55,0	1995	10	2	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“On average, about how many hours do you spend per month doing volunteer work?”	Formal	3257	39,0	43,0
Son & Wilson [38]	MIDUSr	USA	English speaking adults aged 25–74 y, living in the coterminous US	42,8	12,5	N.R.	55,0	1995	10	2	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“On average, about how many hours do you spend per month doing volunteer work?”	Formal	3257	39,0	43,0
Son & Wilson [39]	MIDUSr	USA	English speaking adults aged 25–74 y, living in the coterminous US	42,8	12,5	N.R.	55,0	1995	10	2	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“On average, about how many hours do you spend per month doing volunteer work?”	Formal	3257	39,0	43,0
Voorpostel & Coffé [40]	SHPas	Switzer-land	Adults aged 18–60 y	43,6at /44,2au	12,0at /11,8au	18–60	55,0	1999	8	9	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“Do you have honorary or voluntary activities within an association, an organization or an institution?”	Formal	8185av	42,5aw / 31,6ax	39,5aw / 29,5ax
Voorpostel & Coffé [41]	SHPas	Switzer-land	Adults aged 18–26 y, no change in partnership of parents during study	21,0	2,4	18–26	47,0	1999	10	11	Volunteering {Yes vs. No}	“Do you have honorary or voluntary activities within an association, an organization or an institution?”	Formal	3199ay	Volunteering rates at baseline and follow-up are not presented. The average overall volunteering rate for the two waves is 34,9

^aAll included studies represent (subgroups of) the general population. Specification of subgroups is provided here

^bMeasured at baseline, unless denoted otherwise

^cRepresents the measurement in the year that is used as baseline for the analysis

^dType: Formal volunteering (through an organization), Mixed (no distinction between formal and informal volunteering, or type of volunteering (formal/informal) not specified

^eSocial Relations and Health over the Life Course

^fUnited States of America

^gNot Reported

^hBritish Household Panel Survey

ⁱUnited Kingdom

^jGiving in the Netherlands Panel Study

^kThe Netherlands

^lVolunteers

^mNon-volunteers

ⁿLongitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam

^oCohort 1

^pCohort 2

^qFor each cohort

^rSurvey of Midlife Development in the United States

^sNot applicable

^tHealth and Retirement Study

^uHusbands

^vWives

^w1457 couples

^xPanel Study of Income Dynamics

^yMales

^zFemales

^aaVolunteering

^abReligious volunteering

^acSurvey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

^adAmerican’s Changing Lives Study

^aeApproximately

^afVolunteering sample

^agReligious institution volunteering sample

^ahNonreligious institution volunteering sample

^aiFaith Matters Survey

^ajMean age is measured over all included waves

^akOutcome engagement

^alOutcome cessation

^amReligious volunteering

^anSecular volunteering

^aoAustralian Longitudinal Study On Womens Health

^apJena Study on Social Change and Human Development

^aqSample 1 Age group 30–43

^arSample 2 Age group 56–75

^asSwitzerland Household Panel

^atMales, measured at follow-up

^auFemales, measured at follow-up

^av3692 males and 4493 females

^awMales

^axFemales

^ay1788 respondents and their mothers and 1331 respondents and their fathers