Voluntary work in Germany

Almost a third of Germans over the age of 14 work in an honorary capacity, according to the third ‘Survey on Voluntary Engagement’, which was recently presented by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs. The study shows that older people’s voluntary engagement considerably rose over the last five years, especially in the areas of social and care services. In 2009, 37% of all people aged between 60 and 69 and 25% of those over 70 years dedicated their time to voluntary work. Young people were socially also very engaged, with many practicing voluntary work to gain professional qualifications. However, their commitment to voluntary work slightly dropped over the last decade (1999: 37 %; 2004: 36 %; 2009: 35 %). In terms of gender-specific engagement, the survey shows that men are more active in their voluntary engagement than women with 40% of men committing time to voluntary work in 2009 compared to 32% women. This is partly due to the fact that women are still primarily in charge of family issues and often have to combine family commitments with their professional career. The ‘Voluntary Survey’ is the biggest recent survey on civil society and voluntary engagement in Germany.