diff --git a/src/worker/delete-old-families.ts b/src/worker/delete-old-families.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f15116d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/worker/delete-old-families.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * server component for the TimeLimit App
+ * Copyright (C) 2019 Jonas Lochmann
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, version 3 of the License.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+import { Database } from '../database'
+import { deleteOldFamilies } from '../function/cleanup/delete-old-families'
+
+export function initDeleteOldFamiliesWorker ({ database }: {
+  database: Database
+}) {
+  function doWorkSafe () {
+    deleteOldFamilies(database).catch((ex) => {
+      console.warn('error deleting old families', ex)
+    })
+  }
+
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    doWorkSafe()
+
+    setInterval(() => {
+      doWorkSafe()
+    }, 1000 * 60 * 60 /* every 4 hours */)
+  }, 1000 * 60 * 23 /* after 23 minutes */)
+}
diff --git a/src/worker/index.ts b/src/worker/index.ts
index bf1ea4b..2adaca8 100644
--- a/src/worker/index.ts
+++ b/src/worker/index.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import { Database } from '../database'
 import { WebsocketApi } from '../websocket'
 import { initDeleteDeprecatedPurchasesWorker } from './delete-deprecated-purchases'
+import { initDeleteOldFamiliesWorker } from './delete-old-families'
 import { initDeleteOldTokensWorker } from './delete-old-tokens'
 import { initDeleteOldUsedTimesWorker } from './delete-old-used-times'
 
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ export function initWorkers ({ database, websocket }: {
   websocket: WebsocketApi
 }) {
   initDeleteDeprecatedPurchasesWorker({ database, websocket })
+  initDeleteOldFamiliesWorker({ database })
   initDeleteOldTokensWorker({ database })
   initDeleteOldUsedTimesWorker({ database })
 }