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Originally, Hartung Wilstermann wanted to do something good for his employees because, as the managing director, he feels socially obligated to them. 

For 20 years, Wayne and Ute C. have cared for their son Max, who was born with the hereditary disease "Fragile X Syndrome." Then he needed an apprenticeship and a place to live - a wearisome search began for the parents.

One ought to be Brazilian. Or South African, or even Indonesian. Because women from these countries are the most optimistic worldwide regarding the compatibility of career and family, as a new study by Thomson Reuters and the Rockefeller Foundation shows. A total of 9,500 women from the 20 most important industrial and emerging countries were surveyed for this.

Flexible and reliable childcare options are scarce, especially in large cities. Lucky are the few who can rely on grandparents in difficult situations. And the rest?

+++ Update from 24.09.2015 +++ At the federal congress of the Verdi union in Leipzig on 23.09.2015, the re-elected leader Bsirske, with 88.5% of the vote, announced a "massive escalation" of strikes in municipal daycare centers. It is expected to have "significant impacts on parents, employers, and the strikers." The strikes could take place as early as October and be unannounced and unpredictable this time, as Verdi spokesperson Schischefky already mentioned in September. What does this mean for mothers and fathers? The most important answers to questions that especially working parents are now asking.

Good news for people in need of care and their relatives – many small but necessary services can now be billed and applied for anew. 

Many professionals wish for a better balance between work and family, for example, through support in handling everyday tasks. 

Great, the summer holidays are just around the corner! What excites the little ones, however, gives many parents a headache.

Together with the AWO Parent Service, famPLUS has already organized three two-day workshops where participants primarily have one goal: to exchange ideas, share their perspectives, and deepen their knowledge in parenting and work principles.

On January 1, the amendment to the law on parental allowance and parental leave came into force. In particular, the newly introduced Parental Allowance Plus will provide young parents with more flexibility in balancing work and family in the early months of their child's life.

In Hamburg, schoolchildren can spend very special holidays: learning holidays that promote self-confidence and the joy of learning and strengthen personal development. 

Finding good childcare, suitable care for elderly family members, and help with household tasks, ideally through a professional agency that offers advice and makes a preliminary selection, greatly facilitates the balance between work and family life. But the market for providers is vast and confusing. How can private customers or employers know which agency reliably and competently informs, advises, and arranges services?

The emergency childcare service through famPLUS in the Cologne/Düsseldorf area has grown: With Leo-Kinderevents, a competent, reliable, and experienced partner for emergency childcare has been acquired. We asked the agency founder, Stephanie Beivers, how the whole thing works—from a parent's perspective. The questions were posed by Christine Finke, a mother of three and employed.

Grandparents often do not live in the same location as their grandchildren. Substitute grandmothers and grandfathers can be a reliable and time-flexible alternative for childcare in this case. Many parents already appreciate substitute grandmothers and grandfathers; the demand from young families is steadily increasing. Workshops by famPLUS and ElternService AWO in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and other German metropolises aim to encourage interested older people to make themselves available as substitute grandmothers or grandfathers. Additionally, already active substitute grandmothers and grandfathers are given the opportunity for exchange and further training. The first workshop in Berlin took place in November with great success.

A supermarket where you can pay with tissues or cookies, a cafeteria and a shared kitchen, green space and a sensory garden amidst several residential buildings with shared apartments, where residents can furnish the rooms to their taste and are not subjected to the schedule of a nursing home – up to this point, everyone actually likes the "Alzheimer's Village" project.