Service can be viewed across the life course. A young person today may be involved in a service-learning program during secondary school, an international service experience in college, and a stint of national service following college graduation. This person may then focus on career and family, returning to service in later adulthood and in retirement. Applying a long-term perspective to global demographic changes, it is likely that older adults will be an important vehicle for social change through service programs. In this view, a lifelong ethic and practice of service may become common.

CSD's research on service across the life course concentrates on Youth Service—including national and international service and service-learning—and Older Adult Service in the US and abroad.