Prior to German reunification, West Germany idealized a family where the father worked and the mother took care of the household, whereas in East Germany both men and women had a job, and it was common for women to share work and family life.
The East German government made it an important task to balance work and family, and to this end, daycare facilities and daycare centers were expanded so that women could leave their children with them. In addition, when a child is born, a long leave was allowed, and a leave to take care of a sick child was also possible. Housework and childrearing were considered to be shared between the state and women, not between men and women.
The East German government implemented this policy not because of the demands of women, but because of the need to use women's labor to develop the economy and increase the fertility rate to increase the population under the ideology of socialist women's liberation. It is a well-known fact that work-family balance is one of the important factors that increase the fertility rate.
As a result, working mothers became the most ideal female image in East Germany, and fertility increased. In 1989, the average age of marriage for East German women was 22.9 years old (25.0 for men). It was common to have two or more children and raise them.
In East Germany, divorce was relatively free as women had the ability to become economically independent. In many cases, single mothers raised children or raised children while living with men without marriage.
In East Germany, those born out of wedlock were treated equally as children born out of wedlock, and fathers had to contribute financially to support their children.
On the other hand, in West Germany, where housewives were viewed as ideal women, childcare facilities for leaving children were insufficient.
In addition, mothers who leave their children to work have been criticized as 'crow mothers'.
Are women the biggest victims of German unification?
In such a situation, as the reunification was achieved mainly with the West German system, East German women suffered a lot of damage.
With the loss of a job they took for granted and the reduction of state support for childcare, East German women find it difficult to balance work and family.
As the state-run daycare centers shifted to capitalist management, the cost of raising children has risen dramatically.
Daycare hours have also been reduced from 12 hours a day to 7 hours a day.
It is said that 70% of the unemployed were women, as women were laid off first in the midst of an increase in the number of unemployed throughout East Germany.
It was also difficult for women to find re-employment opportunities.
Although unification created freedom and increased goods that they could enjoy, there were no jobs and no place to leave children, and as the state support decreased, East German women suffered a great shock in terms of economic independence and self-realization.
It was even said that the biggest victims of German unification were East German women.
Although there was a women's organization called 'German Democratic Women's League' in East Germany, it was not capable of solving women's problems because it was only an organization that supported and implemented the policies decided by the party.
East German women did not think that the rights they enjoyed would be lost in the urgent unification process, so they did not even make an active movement to speak up.
Reconciliation of work and family and low fertility upon reunification of South and North Korea
There are two major issues to consider in the process of North-South unification. First, gender equality and women's self-realization, and second, the low birth rate. The low fertility issue is difficult to see as a women's issue and should be viewed as a social structural issue, but there are things to consider together in the process of contemplating women's issues. If work-family balance is also linked to childbirth, these two issues are also related.
In terms of gender equality and women's self-actualization, it is important to enable women to find work. In order for women to be able to work, it is also necessary to provide equal opportunities for men and women in society, but it is also necessary to solve the problem of parenting. For women who are married and have children, they need a place to leave their children in order to work.
In the transition period of the unification process, the state should prioritize the maintenance and expansion of childcare facilities so that childcare infrastructure is maintained. It is necessary to raise awareness that children can be left at daycare facilities by providing support such as the expansion of childcare facilities and nursery teachers, and food expenses.
Rather than simply providing livelihood assistance to women who do not have the ability to live, it is necessary to devise a way to increase women's economic activity through vocational re-education.
Countermeasures against low fertility need to be implemented in North Korea from the early stage of unification. If the social structure and perceptions change as in South Korea, it is not easy to raise the fertility rate.
In the case of Germany, the fertility rate in the East German region at the beginning of unification by absorption into West Germany fell sharply. The social structure of East Germany was not changing as rapidly as in West Germany, but rather a reflection of the unstable situation in East Germany.
The instability in East Germany has eased over time, but the social structure and perceptions of East Germany have gradually begun to change to a West German style. Before unification, it was common for East German women to have their first child when they reached the age of 20. In addition, as East German women, like West German women, place more importance on vocational activities and career development than childbirth and childcare, the fertility rate has also declined. Compared to before unification, fewer places to leave children also had an impact on the fertility rate.