Overview

• Local senior representatives in Bavaria’s Dachau district largely reject a compulsory model, warning it could sap motivation in vital volunteer work, though some support a voluntary service option.
• Federal Family Minister Karin Prien calls the mandatory year for retirees a radical and wrong approach and urges reliance on voluntariness rather than compulsion.
• Trade unions and senior groups denounce the proposal as disrespectful, noting many retirees already provide family care, have completed past national service, and have earned their retirement.
• BAGSO emphasizes that older adults are already the supporting pillar of volunteerism and argues recognition and better conditions are more effective than coercion.
• Experts and initiatives promote incentives such as honoraria, tax relief on expenses, stronger volunteer infrastructure, and information for new retirees, while DIW’s idea of a solidarity levy on wealthier pensioners remains part of the financing debate.