One of the core tasks of the media house's social commitment is the support of children and youth culture, as well as reading encouragement programs.

Since early 2005, Gruner + Jahr has supported reading encouragement projects in deprived parts of the city in cooperation with the BürgerStiftung Hamburg. These include the "Leseclub" (reading club) at the Kölibri center for community work in the St. Pauli district, the "LeseZeit" (reading time) project where volunteers read stories to children, as well as the "mobile" reading encouragement program, "Lesen in Altona" (reading in Altona). In addition, Gruner + Jahr has promoted the annual reading festival "Seiteneinsteiger" since 2005.

In January 2007, the Hamburg Culture Authority launched "Buchstart" (Bookstart), a long-term project to encourage the acquisition of reading skills in young children. "Buchstart" is part of an initiative called "Lebenswerte Stadt" (“City worth living in”), for which Gruner + Jahr acts as the main sponsor. Cotton bags containing free picture books, book recommendations and literature tips for parents as well as a coupon for Hamburg's public libraries, introduce children from 0 to 3 years of age to the world of books. An additional accompanying scheme called "Gedichte für Wichte" (poems for the young) was launched in April 2007. It introduces children of up to three years of age to their first rhymes and songs. Today there are 45 Gedichte-für-Wichte-groups in Hamburg. In Spring 2008, “Buchstart” was honoured with the commendation “Ausgewählter Ort 2008“ (Exclusive Location Award 2008) as part of the competition “365 Orte im Land der Ideen“ (365 Locations in the Land of Ideas).

“The Harbour Front Literature Festival”, for which Gruner + Jahr is one of the cooperation partners, was launched 2009. The aim of Harbour Front is to establish a large annual international book festival in Hamburg. The mix of different languages and cultures found in the harbour area mean that it is the ideal venue for a literature festival. A total of 87 events with 114 authors from 21 countries will take place from September 8 – 18, 2010. The G+J press building is one of 21 venues.