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Economic Relations Between Women And Their Partners: An East And West German Comparison After Reunification

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  • Heike Trappe
  • Annemette Sørensen

Abstract

This article compares women's and men's economic relations in East and West Germany following the 1990 reunification to exemplify the impact of varying opportunity structures on women's relative contribution to family income. West Germany's takeover set in motion a rapid transformation of East German institutions and employment structures. The analysis shows that women in West Germany became less dependent on their partners in the 1990s, largely because fewer women were housewives without earnings. In contrast, the contributions of women to the family economy in East Germany fell between 1990 and 1996. Afterwards, women in East Germany regained some of their economic power because of their partners' increasing difficulties sustaining employment. A multivariate analysis showed that the fact that women in West Germany were more likely to work less or not at all - especially if they were married or had children - accounted for much of the difference.

Suggested Citation

  • Heike Trappe & Annemette Sørensen, 2006. "Economic Relations Between Women And Their Partners: An East And West German Comparison After Reunification," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 643-665.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:12:y:2006:i:4:p:643-665
    DOI: 10.1080/13545700600885255
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    6. Liat Raz-Yurovich, 2012. "Normative and allocation role strain: role incompatibility, outsourcing, and the transition to a second birth in Eastern and Western Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2012-024, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    7. Joshua R. Goldstein & Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2010. "East Germany overtakes West Germany: recent trends in order-specific fertility dynamics," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2010-033, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
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    13. Madalozzo, Regina & Martins, Sergio R. & Shiratori, Ludmila, 2008. "Participação no Mercado de Trabalho e no Trabalho Doméstico: Homens e Mulheres têm Condições Iguais?," Insper Working Papers wpe_118, Insper Working Paper, Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dual-earner couples; economics of the family; household economics; East and West Germany; JEL Codes: D1; J16;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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