Elderly North Carolinians play a big role in the state's civic life and will be even more important as Baby Boomers start turning 65 in 2011, and the state should find ways to engage them in service activities, a new study says.

Seniors in the state vote and return census forms at higher rates than any other generation, give the biggest share of their incomes to charity of any generation, and volunteer more than most, says the study by the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research.

And seniors who use the Internet are more likely to be civically engaged online than Boomers who use the Internet, the study says.

With the state population age 65 and older expected to double over the next 20 years, "North Carolina needs to tap the civic resources that our seniors represent," Mebane Rash, editor of North Carolina Insight, the center's journal, says in a statement.

"Older adults are looking for encore careers," she says. "Many want to volunteer for nonprofits or public agencies, but they have never been asked. "The state needs to play a role in matching those who want to serve with opportunities for service."

...North Carolinians age 70 and older give the highest percentage of their incomes to nonprofits in their communities, the study says, although a higher percentage of Boomers actually give.

And Boomers will have more money to give over the next several decades because they will receive a lot of wealth through bequests, the study says.

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