Determinants of Volunteer Work Participation by Married Women

Schram, Vicki Ruth

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/68576 Copy

Description

Title

Determinants of Volunteer Work Participation by Married Women

Author(s)

Schram, Vicki Ruth

Issue Date

1980

Department of Study

Human Resources and Family Studies

Discipline

Human Resources and Family Studies

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

Sociology, Individual and Family Studies

Language

eng

Abstract

• There were two general objectives of this study: (1) to investigate the determinants of participation in volunteer work by married women and (2) to investigate the determinants of the extent of participation of those women who do volunteer. Specific objectives were: (1) to determine the factors influencing married women's participation in volunteer work, (2) to determine the relative importance of selected socioeconomic and social-psychological variables in explaining married women's participation in volunteer work, (3) to determine the factors influencing the extent of participation in volunteer work, and (4) to determine the relative importance of selected socioeconomic and social-psychological variables in explaining the extent of participation of those married women who do volunteer.
• Data for this study are part of the Quality of Life Survey 1976-77, consisting of homemakers in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The data represent the second wave of interviews of "typical" families that had participated in the 1970-71 Survey of Life Styles of Families (Wave 1). In the original survey, a random sample of households, stratified by the head's occupation, was obtained. Only those households with a mother or mother-substitute under age 65 and at least one child under age 18 were included. Of the original 564 families surveyed, only 288 households could be located for re-interview. The sample continues to be stratified, however. Of those homemakers surveyed, 231 provided usable data to investigate participation in volunteer work. Of these, only 117 had volunteered; this subsample was used to investigate whether the homemaker volunteered a little or a lot.
• A human capital framework provided the theoretical model within which the hypotheses were tested. Socioeconomic and social-psychological variables indicative of the human capital returns associated with volunteering were selected for investigation. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the two dependent variables, participation in volunteer work and extent of participation in volunteer work, in relation to the thirteen socioeconomic and seven social-psychological variables.
• It was found that the more highly educated the homemaker and the more her husband's attitude was negative about wives working outside the home, the more likely she was to participate in volunteer work. Homemaker's education was the most important socioeconomic variable, and husband's attitude about wives working was the most important social-psychological variable in explaining participation in volunteer work. The findings also showed that the homemaker was more likely to volunteer a lot if she (1) was higher educated, (2) was younger, (3) had lived in her present home a longer period of time, (4) had worked a longer period of time since marriage, (5) had not lived in the community all her life, (6) was more satisfied with her marriage, and (7) if she perceived her leisure time to be about right rather than too little. Homemaker's age was the most important socioeconomic variable, and satisfaction with marriage was the most important social-psychological variable in explaining whether the homemaker volunteered a little or a lot.

Graduation Semester

1980

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/68576

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