The participation of Maltese older people in the voluntary sector

Abstract

This publication is concerned with the interface between volunteerism and later life, with a special focus on the role that older adults can play in ensuring a better future for present and future generations. One of every four Maltese citizens is aged 60 and over, a state of affairs that will impact greatly on how local public policy is planned, coordinated and implemented. The ageing of Malta’s population warrants that government and civil society alike ceases to perceive older adults as a homogenous category, characterised by frailty and dependency, and instead, look at the immense opportunities that arise if older cohorts are mobilised into a productive force. In addition to active participation in the labour market, another highly promising area of policy development in productive ageing is volunteering. Indeed, all societies are experienced by a significant increase of people’s life- and healthexpectancies, so that a large percentage of older citizens enjoy some fifteen to twenty years of active retirement.