Young Socialists in the SPD


Working Group of Young Socialists in the SPD is a voluntary youth organisation of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
Currently, there are over 70,000 people listed as members of the Jusos.

Membership

Every member of the SPD who is aged between 14 and 35 years old is automatically enrolled in the Jusos. Since 1994, younger people in that age group have also been able to become a member of Jusos without party membership. Until 2011 this was free, but ended after a two 2-year period. Today, it is possible to be a member of only Jusos until you reach your 35th birthday. However, there is now a membership fee of €1 per month.

History

1918–1969

The Jusos were founded between 1918 and 1920, when groups of members of the SPD between 20 and 25 years of age began to meet. In terms of numbers, the Jusos remained small, with between 3,000 and 5,000 members. They were dissolved in 1931 as a result of an internal controversy.
After the end of World War II, the Jusos was refounded in 1946. In their early years, they were a relatively indistinctive wing of the Social Democratic Party.

Move to the left in 1969

In 1969, the Jusos moved to the left of their parent party. On their Bundeskongress they decided to become a left-wing political federation in their own right instead of being simply an extension of the SPD. Since then, the Jusos have seen themselves as a socialist and feminist association within the SPD.