Contributions in Time: Americans Age 55+

A recent brief from the Urban Institute, which looked at the value of unpaid activities by Americans age 55 and older in 2002 included volunteering for an organization, helping others who do not live in the same household through informal channels and caring for family members, estimated that these American's contributed between $97.6 billion and $201 billion to society.

It is estimated that 61% or $100 billion was time spent caring for family members including spouses, grandchildren and parents, $44.3 billion volunteering through organizations, and another $17.8 billion volunteering through informal channels.

Richard Johnson and Simone Schaner
Value of Unpaid Activities by Older Americans Tops $160 billion per year
The Retirement Project: Perspective on Productive Aging
Number 4, Sept 2005
Urban Institutes