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This article reports on research carried out under the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC's) Learning Society Programme. The program comprised 14 projects involving research into the learning society and the ways in which it can contribute to the development of knowledge and skills for employment and in other areas of adult life. This article is one of a series of comparative studies which explore notions of lifelong learning, learning organisation and learning society in Europe and, in some cases, reflect on the use of comparative research in the social sciences. The author contrasts the notion of lifelong learning in Germany with those in the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA) and Canada. An alternative interpretation of the concept to that presented in official rhetoric is provided to better explain the high levels of non-participation in continuous learning in Germany and the UK.