Voluntary social year

The Voluntary Social Year in Germany[1] and, in a much lesser dimension, in Austria,[2] is a government-funded voluntary work program particularly for young adults(age from 16 to 27). It can last between six and eighteen months. It can also be spent abroad.

Germany

History

The voluntary social year (German: Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr / FSJ) developed from the "diaconal year" organized by the Protestant and Catholic Church the first time in 1954, the 100th anniversary of the Diakoniewerk in Germany. The appeal to volunteer was addressed to young women who would provide service to the sick and those in need of care.

In 1962 the "Philadelphic Service" (German: Philadelphischen Dienst) has been initiated by Gertrud Rückert. She wanted to offer a voluntary social year for female high school graduates before they start studying for personal and professional orientation. At that time it was a completely new concept and a forerunner of the voluntary social year, that was later legally anchored in Germany. On February 14, 1963, the government introduced a draft law to offer a voluntary social year in parliament, the Bundestag. The law finally came into force on April 1, 1964.

Until the suspension of conscription for military service and therefore of the alternative service in 2011 as well, the voluntary social year was also recognized as alternative to military service in Germany.

Duration

A duration to volunteer in the FSJ is between 6 and 18 months maximum. In exceptional cases the service can last up to 24 months, if this is justified by a special educational concept. If a voluntary social year is initially completed for less than 18 months, it can be extended to 15 months (in the case of a deployment in Germany), with the consent of the provider of the FSJ. The voluntary social year can also be completed abroad.[3]

The starting times are usually between August and October of each year. Some porters offer the option of lateral entry.

Training

The providers of a voluntary social year are obliged to provide the volunteers with at least 25 training days during a 12-month service. Depending on the time spent in the voluntary service, it is also possible to complete more or fewer training days. According to the Voluntary Service Act, volunteers are obliged to take part in the training days.

Social security and retirement provision

Volunteers of the FSJ receive full social insurance. According to Social Code IV, the agency (or the place of assignment) pays the full costs for social insurance (employee and employer shares). The time of the voluntary social year is taken into account for the pension fund (compulsory pension insurance) The volunteers have a similar legal status to apprentices.[4]

New legislation

Since June 1, 2008, the legal regulations have been merged with those of the Voluntary Ecological Year in a new bill for Youth Voluntary Services.

Branches of the FSJ

FSJ for cultural engagement
FSJ in politics

There are different areas of operations. The services are divided into different branches:

  • FSJ im sozialen Bereich (FSJ for social caring)
  • FSJ in der Kultur[5] (FSJ for cultural engagement)
  • FSJ im Sport[6] (FSJ for sports)
  • FSJ in der Politik:[7][8][9][10] (FSJ in politics)
  • FSJ in der Denkmalpflege (FJD)[11] (FSJ for preservation of historical monuments)
  • FSJ Schule (FSJ for schools)

Operational areas

The operational areas for FSJ volunteers are all social, charitable, or of public utility:

  • Services for people with disabilities
  • Hospitals
  • Nursing homes
  • Retirement homes
  • Foster homes
  • Preservation of historic monuments
  • Ambulatory services
  • Youth welfare services
  • Church communities
  • Emergency medical services
  • Children's homes

Volunteers in the FSJ

The number of volunteers of the Voluntary Social Year:[12]

Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr volunteers
Yearpercentage of female volunteerspercentage of male volunteerspercentage of third gender/various volunteerspercentage of no gender specifiednumber of female volunteersnumber of male volunteersnumber of third gender / various volunteersnumber of no gender specificationtotal number of volunteers
201163.88%36.12%--30,07417,003--47,077
201264.47%35.53%--30,89517,023--47,918
201364.22%35.78%--33,09018,433--51,523
201464.22%35.78%--34,18219,044--53,226
201564.48%35.52%--35,30919,449--54,758
201663.79%36.21%--35,94220,405--56,347
201763.85%36.15%--35,06519,854--54,919
201864.28%35.72%--35,30119,616--54,917
201963.19%35.74%0.35%-34,06119,046187-53,294
202064.85%34.87%0.28%-34,58418,596151-53,331
202164.86%34.75%0.38%-33,95018,191201-52,342
202264.64%34.00%0.59%0.78%30,27015,92127636346,830
202365.60 %33.27 %0.68 %0.45 %30,78415,61432121146,930
202465.29 %33.24 %0.78 %0.69 %31,88416,23438033948,837
202565.69 %33.69 %0.67 %0.25 %30,82715,88631811847,149

Austria

The voluntary social year (the German terms: Freiwilliges Sozialjahr and Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr are in use) in Austria is very similar to the FSJ in Germany. Since 1968 the FSJ is organized by the Association for the Promotion of Voluntary Social Services (German: Verein zur Förderung freiwilliger sozialer Dienste) and is legally regulated in the Volunteer bill. The association has its seat in Vienna and its secretariat in Linz. Regional offices are located in Graz, Vienna, Innsbruck and Salzburg.

Regular voluntary social year

Young people can volunteer in the FSJ for ten to twelve months in a social institution in Austria. The areas of responsibilities are assistance for people with disabilities, for old people, children or young people or working with homeless people respectively. The working time of the volunteers is 34 hours per week. While there were around 300–400 FSJ volunteers in 2012, in 2020 about 1,100 volunteers were registered.[13]

Due to the existing conscription for military service in the Austrian Armed Forces, the voluntary social year is a substitute to the regular alternative service, called Zivildienst, since 2016.[14][15]

Special voluntary social year

Similar to the "Special Alternative Civilian Service" (German: Außerordentlicher Zivildienst), during times of crisis or a state of emergency, men and women can again volunteer for a "special voluntary social year" (German: Außerordentliches Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr), if they already have completed a regular voluntary social year. This special FSH can last for a period of one to nine months. The hours of work, positions, pocket money and insurance correspond to the conditions of the regular FSJ. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the "special FSJ" was activated for the first time in history and lasted until December 31, 2020.[16]

Volunteers in the FSJ

Due to the results of a 2015 evaluation, in average Austrian FSJ volunteers are 19 years old, with 95% being women and 5% men. 96% of the volunteers receive the children's allowance and two-thirds live with their parents.[17][18][13][19]

Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr volunteers in Austria (not all numbers available)[20]
yearnumber of female volunteersnumber of male volunteersnumber of third gender / various volunteerstotal number of volunteers
2012N/AN/AN/A375
2013N/AN/AN/AN/A
2014N/AN/AN/AN/A
2015N/AN/AN/A853
2016822145N/A967
2017819195N/A1,014
2018842202N/A1,044
2019908234N/A1,142
2020928283N/A1,211
20211,157337N/A1,494
20221,136363N/A1,499
2023N/AN/AN/A1,293
2024N/AN/AN/A1,738
20251,36257871,947

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Home". pro-fsj.de.
  2. ↑ "Home". fsj.at.
  3. ↑ "Internationaler Jugendfreiwilligendienst". 4 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "FSJ: Kranken- und Sozialversicherung". 17 February 2023.
  5. ↑ "Freiwilligendienste Kultur und Bildung". Freiwilligendienste-kultur-bildung.de. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Freiwilligendienste im Sport". Dsj.de. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  7. ↑ "FSJ-Politik in Sachsen". Archived from the original on 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2020-09-07. 20. Mai 2008
  8. ↑ "FSJ Politik". Ijgd.de. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  9. ↑ "FSJ-Politik in Niedersachsen". Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  10. ↑ "FSJ Politik – Kulturbüro RLP". Fsjpolitik-rlp.de. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Freiwilligendienste in der Denkmalpflege". Ijgd.de. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Open Data Portal - Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr". Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  13. 1 2 "Freiwilliges Sozialjahr | Freiwilligenweb". Archived from the original on 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  14. ↑ "Home". volkshilfe-wien.at.
  15. ↑ "Infoblatt für Zivildienstpflichtige – Freiwilliges Sozialjahr als Alternative" (PDF) (in German). Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  16. ↑ "Freiwilliges Sozialjahr: Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Österreichs". Archived from the original on 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  17. ↑ "Bericht zum freiwilligen Engagement in Österreic" (PDF). Freiwilligenweb.at. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Freiwilliges Engagement wird künftig stärker gefördert (PK0756/28.06.2023) | Parlament Österreich". Parlament.gv.at. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Freiwilliges soziales Jahr zunehmend beliebt". Orf.at. June 7, 2026. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Downloads". Freiwilligenweb.at. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
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