This paper revisits the associations between education and learning with civil participation during adulthood, focusing on the questions whether and how adult learning may exert an effect on civil participation. Adult learning is distinguished upon its degree of institutionalization. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) further allows to differentiate recurring civil participation and the uptake of civil participation. Multinomial logistic regression models reveal that the odds of recurring civil participation, against the odds of no civil participation, increase with educational degree, non-formal and informal learning. This result supports earlier research. The models further show that the odds of taking up civil participation during adulthood, against the odds of no civil participation, do not change with educational degree but with informal learning and especially with non-formal learning. The results on the one hand, speak in favor of the continuity theory of aging; civil participation behavior establishes early in life and upon similar determinants as the dispositions for adult learning. On the other hand, non-formal learning may trigger adults to uptake civil participation by providing opportunities to extend of social networks.

Keywords
Adult learning; Education; Adult education; Civil participation; Volunteering