Exploring the Association Between Time Dedicated to Lifelong Learning and Volunteering Among Older Adults: Socioeconomic Status as a Moderator.

Summary: Older adults who spend time learning new things often volunteer more in their communities. But if they spend too much time in classes, their volunteering drops off. This creates an upside-down "U" shape when you look at the data. We studied older adults in South Korea over 10 years to see how wealth changes this. We found that wealthier seniors start volunteering faster when they take classes, but they also quit faster. Seniors with less money want to volunteer, but they face harder hurdles. We need to build better support systems to help them give back!