Voluntary Association Membership Trends and the Family Life Cycle

Using a role perspective, expectations are derived about changes in voluntary association membership levels across the family life cycle. The expected curvilinear relationship was found in national survey data from 1967 to 1974. The relationship remained even with race, sex, and education levels held constant in a log-linear analysis of multiway contingency tables. The curvilinear pattern differed somewhat between the two samples, but the general pattern held regardless of the type of organization. Slight increases in membership rates were found over time, suggesting a continuance of trends noted in samples from previous years.