Thinking with Gaps between Coal and Post-Coal in an Eastern German Mining District

More than 15 years after the German reunification, were there differences in the personal resources among adolescents born around 1989 between East and West? How did the differences of this generation develop? Data from the study on the health of children, adolescents and young adults in Germany (KiGGS study) from the years 2003-2006 and 2014-2017 are used to determine the prevalence of low personal resources in 14-17-year-old adolescents in Eastern and Western Germany. Cross-sectional data at both time periods are compared between East and West, and longitudinal data are used to follow the cohort over the course of age RESULTS: Around 15 years after the German reunification, 14- to 17-year-olds from East Germany more frequently show fewer personal resources and have lower self-efficacy expectations than adolescents of the same age in West Germany. 10 years later, these differences are barely visible and have partially reversed. The east-west differences found cannot be explained by the different socio-economic situations of the families in East and West. The results show that in the 2000s, adolescents born around 1989 from families living in Eastern Germany, showed a higher risk of having fewer personal resources than adolescents from families living in Western Germany. 25 years after the German reunification this is no longer recognizable. While the differences between East and West decrease over time, the importance of the socio-economic situation of the family for the personal resources of adolescents as a whole increases, to the detriment of those with a lower socioeconomic status. The results indicate the need for targeted interventions to strengthen psychosocial resources especially for children and adolescents in phases of transformation and biographical breaks.

Prior to the German reunification, cancer survival was much lower in East than in West Germany. We compare cancer survival between Eastern and Western Germany in the early twenty-first century, i.e. the second decade after the German reunification. Using data from 11 population-based cancer registries covering a population of 33 million people, 5-year age-standardized relative survival for the time period 2002-2006 was estimated for the 25 most common cancers using model-based period analysis. In 2002-2006, 5-year relative survival was very similar for most cancers, with differences below 3% units for 20 of 25 cancer sites. Larger, statistically significant survival advantages were seen for oral cavity, oesophagus, and gallbladder cancer and skin melanoma in the West and for leukemia in the East. Our study shows that within two decades after the assimilation of political and health care systems, the former major survival gap of cancer patients in Eastern Germany has been essentially overcome. This result is encouraging as it suggests that, even though economic conditions have remained difficult in Eastern Germany, comparable health care provision may nevertheless enable comparable levels of cancer survival within a relatively short period of time.

28-year incidence and time trends of childhood leukaemia in former East Germany compared to West Germany after German reunification: A study from the German Childhood Cancer Registry

NATO Enlargement—Was There a Promise?

Background: Regional comparisons of cancer-related mortality in Germany are traditionally focused on disparities between East and West Germany. Recent improvements in all-cause and cancer-related mortality show a diverse regional pattern beyond the known East-West mortality divide. A generalized approach of the avoidable/amenable cancer mortality definition is applied for suitable regional comparisons of long-term trends.Methods: Standardized death rates of preventable and amenable cancer mortality for men and women were computed for the period 1990–2014 to observe sex-specific excess mortality due to specific cancers after the German reunification. For regional comparison, three German super regions were defined in Eastern, Northwestern, and Southwestern Germany to account for similarities in long-term regional premature and cancer-related mortality patterns, socioeconomic characteristics, and age structure.Results: Since preventable and amenable cancer mortality rates typically have driven the recent trends in premature mortality, our findings underline the current regional pattern of preventable cancer mortality for males with disadvantages for Eastern Germany, and advantages for Southwestern Germany. Among women, the preventable cancer mortality has increased in Northwestern and Southwestern Germany after the German reunification but has decreased in Eastern Germany and converged to the pattern of Southwestern Germany. Similar patterns can be observed for females in amenable cancer mortality.Conclusions: Although the “traditional” East-West gap in preventable cancer mortality was still evident in males, our study provides some hints for more regional diversity in avoidable cancer mortality in women. An establishing north-south divide in avoidable cancer mortality could alter the future trends in regional cancer-related mortality in Germany.

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). …

This article examines the relationship between literacy and age cohorts in eastern and western Germany. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) lost its existence in 1989, but an intense discussion on discrimination against eastern Germany and fundamentally diverse election results allow the claim that eastern and western Germany have not converged as expected. The paper therefore examines how the very different experiences of several age cohorts affected the literacy skills in both parts of Germany. Based on secondary analyses of the Level-One Survey 2018, the population with low literacy skills in eastern Germany is thus described according to sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors. Subsequently, predictors for low literacy are worked out. The findings show, firstly, that the group of people with low literacy skills in eastern Germany is older and less often migrant than in the western part, has more often school and professional qualifications, but still more often face unemployment. Secondly, the effect of lower literacy of older cohorts in the bivariate analysis is reversed when other factors are controlled for, so that the younger, specifically eastern German cohorts show lower literacy values. This may be a sign that better educated people leave eastern Germany for better professional chances.

Letting the “Gini” out of the bottle: Social causation and the obesity epidemic

In this paper data from the first wave of the German family panel (pairfam) is used to study the diversity of living arrangements in Germany. The analyses are restricted to the birth cohorts 1971-1973. These cohorts have entered adulthood after unification, but made significant transitions, like the birth of their first children, until interview in 2008/09. The investigation focuses on the union dynamics after the birth of the first child. We find significant differences in family formation patterns between eastern and western Germany. Respondents in eastern Germany are more often unmarried than western German respondents when the first child is born. Also after family formation, western Germans remain more likely to marry than eastern Germans. Separation rates are higher in eastern Germany in the immediate year after childbirth. A striking feature of the eastern German pattern is that a large fraction of roughly ten percent of the respondents does not have a partner (anymore) when the first child is born. We have also studied how partnership status at first birth relates to separation rates. In line with other studies, we find that cohabiting unions are less stable than marital unions. Comparing behavior in eastern and western Germany, we find that marital unions in the West are more stable than in the East. However, cohabiting unions in the eastern part of Germany display lower separation rates than non-marital unions in the western states.

Since the German re-unification in 1990, Eastern Germany has been a transition economy. After a phase of catching up in productivity with Western Germany from 1991 to 1996, growth rates in the producing sector have dropped below those in Western Germany since 1997. This study investigates whether this macroeconomic picture holds at the microeconomic level. For the special case of Eastern Germany, I suggest identifying productivity gaps by using comparable Western German firms as a “productivity benchmark”. Applying an econometric matching procedure allows to study the productivity gap at the firm level in detail. Besides labor and capital, other factors like innovation and firm ownership are taken into account. The macroeconomic facts are broadly confirmed: a significant gap has remained in recent years. Moreover, Eastern German innovators perform worse than their Western German pendants, and firms owned by Western German or foreign companies perform better than those owned by Eastern German entities.

Alterations in height, weight, and body mass index of newborns, children, and young adults in eastern Germany after German reunification

Diverging long-term trends in ambient urban particle mass and number concentrations associated with emission changes caused by the German unification

Books reviewed: Jeffrey Anderson, German Unification and the Union of Europe Stephen Padgett, Organizing Democracy in Eastern Germany

Controversy accompanies polyclinic revival in Germany

<p>On 3 October 1990, reunification of the two Germanys, which had long been hoped for on both sides of the border, became reality. After the initial euphoria, however, it soon became obvious that this was going to be a great challenge and would require major efforts by all those involved. Here, the rapid development and upgrading of the transport infrastructure in the new federal states played a key role, because this was an important prerequisite for the necessary economic upturn and the progressive approximation of living standards in Eastern and Western Germany. A major foundation was created for this with the decision to give priority to the construction of the “German Unity Transport Projects”, and this has been crucial in helping the two Germanys to grow together.</p>