Social Change and Declines in Marriage and Fertility in Eastern Germany

Abstract

Between 1989 and 1994, the birth rate in Eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic) fell from 12.0 to 5.1 per 1,000, while fertility in the West remained stable at around 11.0 per 1,000. In addition, marriage rates in the East have been cut in half. The social and economic conditions surrounding marriage and parenthood have changed significantly since 1989 in postsocialist East Germany (e.g., higher unemployment and less generous policies). Using gender perspective, I argue that in the insecure economic times following German unification, East German women are likely to regard the responsibility of getting married and raising children as risky, long-term commitment they are reluctant to enter. Evidence from various data sources shows that since 1989 changes in the nature of employment and reductions in state support for leave, child care, and abortion have contributed to declining marriage and birth rates in the new German states. Key Words: East Germany, fertility, gender, German unification, women. Children are now question of money. Family planning is financial planning. An East German woman interviewed by Butow, 1992, p. 48. Between 1989 and 1994, the birth rate in Eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic or GDR, commonly referred to as the new German states) fell from 12.0 to 5.1 per 1,000, while fertility in the West remained stable at around 11.0 per 1,000 (Conrad, Lechner, & Werner, 1996). In fact, compared with the preunification era, fertility in the various new German states has been reduced by between 25% and 75% (see Eberstadt, 1994; Ferree, 1993; Living and Dying, 1994). In addition, marriage rates in the East also have been cut in half (Conrad et al., 1996). This sharp drop in the East is unprecedented during peacetime in industrial countries and indicates reaction to dramatic social and economic change (Conrad et al., 1996; Eberstadt, 1994). This study challenges mainstream economic and cultural arguments, which attribute this freeze in marriage and fertility rates to rapid shifts of individual attitudes regarding the value of children based on Western culture of consumerism and hedonism, or general family decline in the West (see Andorka, 1978; Coleman, 1993; Oppenheimer, 1994; Popenoe, 1993). Using gender perspective (see Ferree, 1990; Risman & Ferree, 1995; Stacey, 1993; Thompson & Walker, 1995), I contend that the insecure economic conditions and lower social provisions after the transition from centrally planned state economy to the Western free market do not meet the level of economic security East German women consider prerequisite for the responsibility of getting married and raising children. Numerous scholars document that East German women, in particular, have experienced various negative consequences in their lives since German unification in 1990 (Beyer, 1992; Einhorn, 1992; Gerhard, 1992; Kolinsky, 1992, 1993; Marvin, 1995; Nickel, 1992; Ostner, 1994a; Schffgen, 1992; Schaeffer-Hegel, 1992). In fact, these observers suggest that despite its positive effect on personal freedom, unification could be regarded as downward adjustment, a step back, or regression to pre-war gender roles for East German women. This assessment relates to the loss of several advantages that women in the former GDR had over West German women, such as guaranteed employment, extensive reproductive control, and state support for the integration of employment and responsibilities. Unification has replaced the GDR's state support for women's economic independence with Western values and state policies favoring single-earner, two-parent families, values that reinforce traditional gender role patterns (Butow, 1992; Gerhard, 1992; Rosenberg, 1991). This revival of the traditional stereotypes of motherhood and male breadwinners is reflected in high gender-specific unemployment rates, the extensive closing of child-care centers, and changes in tax, divorce, abortion and leave legislation (Beyer, 1992; Gerhard, 1992; Kurz-Scherf,1992; Marvin,1995). …