Barriers to voluntary organization membership: an examination of race and cohort differences

This research uses age stratification, isolation, compensatory, and ethnic community perspectives to predict differences by race in the utilization of formal organizations across cohorts. Voluntary organizations are classified into three general types: social service clubs, job-related groups, and neighborhood organizations. We hypothesize that racial differences in organizational participation will be wider for older cohorts than for younger cohorts, as a result of historical racism. Moreover, we expect the racial differences across cohorts to be greater for those organizations (i.e., social service and job-related groups) where racial barriers to membership were strongest.

We use the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) and logistic regression analysis to determine the predicted probabilities of membership in organizations by race, age, and type of membership.

The results reveal higher levels of participation in organizations for young Blacks (than for young Whites). At the oldest ages, however, the race differential reverses direction for social/service and job-related organizations. For neighborhood organizations, the race differential is more stable across cohorts, consistent with expectations.

We interpret these race-cohort patterns as evidence of historical discrimination that affected the oldest cohorts to a greater extent--especially for social/service and job-related organizations.