A similar effect of volunteering and pensions on subjective wellbeing of elderly

DOI: 10.14254/2071789X.2021/14-2/1 ABSTRACT. We study the effect of pensions and volunteering on subjective wellbeing (SWB) of elderly using the latest wave 6 of Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). This is the first study to consider pensions and volunteering simultaneously as determinants of SWB among elderly. We find that the effect of volunteering on SWB is not much smaller or indeed about as large as that of pensions. The most SWB is associated with volunteering about every week, but there is already a substantial effect even if one volunteers only about every month. We also find that the higher the income or wealth, but not pension, the lower the effect of volunteering – there may be higher opportunity cost for richer people to engage in volunteering. High European pensions may be unsustainable in the long run – we argue that promotion of volunteering is one way to increase elderly’s subjective wellbeing amidst tightening budgets.