Unemployment in the
Debbie
Wagener,
The article examines current trends
in unemployment in the New States and examines the impact of high unemployment on east German women.
With reference to east German women’s relationship to employment in the GDR it focuses on current attitudes
to existing unemployment and
the strategies they have implemented to resist it. It also reviews
their attitudes towards the housewife role and towards combining work and
family and summarises east German
women’s achievements in resisting adaptation to a more Western biography.
1. Introduction
Unemployment rates in
the New States have remained unforeseeably high since German unification in
1990. Furthermore, rather than showing
signs of gradual reduction, there has been a general trend of increasing
unemployment since 1997 which peaked in winter 2003 at 1.7 million. This figure
represents approximately 20% of those available for work in east Germany but
there is concern that 25% would be a more realistic quota if the statistics
were to include those no longer registering themselves as unemployed (Dettmer
2002: 96). The hardest hit are foreign workers with an official quota of 38.6%
in 2003 and there is also concern at the high proportion of young people
between 20-24 who find themselves unemployed before even commencing their
careers. The relatively low unemployment
rate amongst the under 20s also masks a significant drop in employment levels
of over 20% in the period 1991-2001 (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 146)
which is most likely due to longer periods spent in full-time education and
training.
Unemployment rates have
also generally been higher for women than for men, particularly in the first
6-7 years of unification when women comprised two thirds of the unemployed. (Alsop
1994: 30) Recent developments indicate, however, an increasing male
unemployment quota which even currently exceeds that for women.[1] (see Table 1) At the
same time, however, there has also been a significant drop in the employment
rate for younger women where, above all, the 20-25 age-group has suffered with
a fall of 14% compared to 4.1% amongst young men. This reflects the significant
problems young east German women are having in finding posts as apprentices and
trainees. As a result young women under 25 represent only around 40% of the
employed in that age-group (Gender-Institute
Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 146). High
unemployment would be problematic for any nation but it has been felt particularly
harshly by a people who had experienced almost full employment until 1989. East German women, in particular, had a very
different experience of employment to West European women, given the
exceptionally high level of female employment of over 90% (Süssmuth &
Schubert 1992: 15), which was also significantly mostly full-time.
This paper intends to
examine the effects of continued high unemployment on women in the new states,
their attitudes towards it and the strategies used to protect themselves from the
increasing levels of unemployment found amongst men. It draws extensively on
empirical data from interviews undertaken by the author in Saxony-Anhalt in
1999 and 2000. Despite the dubious distinction of having one of the
consistently highest unemployment rates among the new states, the trends traced
in Saxony-Anhalt can be extrapolated to the other east German states. In order to understand east German women’s
attitudes to unemployment it is appropriate to examine factors which may have
influenced women in the former GDR, both in terms of governing ideology and
lifestyle.
2. Attitudes to female employment in the GDR
The
principles of Marxist feminism inevitably made a significant impact on GDR
society as the Soviet-supported regime began to define a new communist state on
German soil. Marx and Engels had claimed that the material base for patriarchy was to be found in capitalism,
which had provided men with the means of earning income outside the home and,
in turn, confirmed the traditional ‘female role’ within the home (Bryson 1992:
68). Female employment and female economic independence were, therefore, deemed
to be progressive forces and essential to women’s emancipation.[2] Indeed Engels considered that “the first condition for the liberation of
women was to bring the whole female sex back into public industry” (Engels 1978: 82-87). The SED took these
principles and embedded them into its society and its legislation. East German
women were expected to work full-time whether they had children or not. A considerable
volume of legislation was passed, promoting the education and training of women
to similar levels as men and providing a range of special systems and grants to
enable them to pursue qualifications with small children.[3] Employers
were also obliged to enter into contracts with women guaranteeing employment
according to qualifications gained during training periods and quotas were set
in all branches of industry (Shaffer 1981: 21).These policies were then backed
up with an impressive range of laws to further support working mothers, such as
highly subsidised, 24-hour, comprehensive child-care, shorter working hours and
extensive leave to look after sick children.
The success of this
multi-pronged approach was clearly visible in the statistics on female
employment at the time of unification. Over 90% of East German women were
employed or studying, with greater representation in a larger number of fields
and at higher levels than in the West (Winkler 1990: 70). Furthermore,
almost 90% of women had vocational qualifications (Süssmuth &
Schubert 1992: 10) compared to just 60% in
the West (Kolinsky 1989: 134). And,
over 25% of women had qualifications in technical areas.[4] East German
women also constituted 50% of employees in the chemical and electronics sectors (Winkler 1990: 83) and 40% of those holding the highest ‘Master’
level of vocational qualification compared to just 8% in the West
(Mohrmann 1992: 38). Of particular
significance was the relatively high number of women in management posts at 30%, compared to just 10% in
the West (Shaffer 1981: 78). The SED’s
brand of Marxist feminism did then reflect the essential link between female
employment and emancipation, based primarily on the need for economic
independence. Furthermore East German women also had the experience of working
full-time throughout the 40 years of the GDR. It is this combination of the
Marxist feminist emphasis on the need for women to work and the actual
experience of employment and financial independence which has inevitably influenced
the current attitudes of east German women towards unemployment.
Attitudes to work have
inevitably been different amongst West German women who had to learn to live
with the strong patriarchal voice of a conservative Federal Government, which upheld
traditional gender roles and a ‘male-breadwinner philosophy’ supported by
tradition and the market economy.[5] In the
East German women’s
unique relationship to work was also reflected in my own research in
Saxony-Anhalt in the summers of 1999 and 2000 when I undertook over 100 oral
history interviews with women taken from a wide sample area. The dual themes of
employment and unemployment for east
German women dominated the majority of interviews despite little direct
questioning on the area. Yet their recollections were not simply based on a
rosy picture of working compared to finding themselves unemployed. Their
description of the relationship to work was relatively complex. Thus the
majority of respondents referred to a certain pressure to work, based, above
all, on the low rate of male pay, but also on an awareness that not working was
socially unacceptable in the GDR. Yet respondents also rejected duty as too strong a description of the
role of work in their life and preferred words such as selbstverständlich (natural, taken for granted), claiming that “it
just didn’t occur to us not to go to work”. (A)[9]
This allusion to a passive acceptance of an obligation potentially fits with a
common Western assumption that east German women were forced to go out to work
by the state. Yet respondents also remained positive in their descriptions of
their working life. Thus a factory worker described her work as “great fun and
[...] something we really wanted to do”. (B) This was supported by the majority
of respondents, who despite the Doppelbelastung
and long hours, clearly did not view themselves as having been exploited or
simply used as workhorses. Above all, they pointed to the fact that “being able
to achieve everything enhanced [their] well-being”. (C) Furthermore, they
consider it important that they “were able to realise [their] identity in a
profession and to fully develop [their] potential”. (D) In a similar way to men, east German women
thus show all the signs of having grown to need what was initially an
obligation as they “needed [their] wages, not like in the West [...] but it
also felt good”. (E)
Particularly significant
in east German women’s relationship to work is the evidence that a real and
positive experience of work was transferred to the theoretical belief that work
is an essential part of a woman’s life and, moreover, essential to her
emancipation. This belief is also reflected in interview responses in the
considerable consensus amongst respondents (over 90%) that emancipation meant
“a right to work”, “the same
opportunities to get a job” (H) and even that it is “impossible‚ to have
emancipation without work”. (C) The principal link between emancipation and
work made by east German women is that they “cannot envisage emancipation
without financial independence and being able to shape their lives themselves”.
(D) In the GDR, they were, after all, able to “divorce their husbands and to
raise their children alone” when the need arose. (I) Respondents thus noted
their appreciation of being able “to achieve something and earn for the family”
(G) and particularly of “not having to ask for handouts”. (B) They were also
frequently scornful of the material dependence of their western sisters. (J)
Respondents also pointed
to other important beneficial effects their full-time employment had in terms
of their emancipation. One of these is the claim that they gained a certain
respect and status in society, above all from men who “saw that women were just
as capable” and that this had an effect on their thinking so that “women were
held in higher esteem”. (K) The sense of
an increase in status was also linked to the wider range of opportunities for
women in the GDR and again the recognition given to this by the SED. Respondents
thus speak proudly about the “normality” of women “driving cranes or welding”
(L) and that “there were lots of women in senior positions”. (J) They also
state that they “gained better positions in middle management [...] were more
confident and had more sense of self-worth”. (K) As a result they were
generally more involved in society so that “women would discuss political
issues with one another, for example”. (G) A very clear majority also describe
an increase in status in the family and a more equal division of household
duties in that it simply became necessary that the husband participated as “it
just couldn’t work any other way”. (M) East German women have thus not only
come to view work as the end but also as a means of gaining emancipation, in
that they clearly link it to other improvements they experienced in status and
self-esteem. This is indicative of a female work ethic which whilst it is
linked to the SED’s Marxist feminism also clearly relates strongly to a
personal need to work.
The need to work has not
been reflected in the West where equality legislation pursued instead the
Radical Feminists’ recognition of housework as an equivalent social
contribution to paid employment. There was, therefore, an emphasis on the need
for an equivalent financial compensation, whereby being a housewife was deemed
to be “a professional activity that must be considered equal to that of a woman
in business for herself”.[10] Schaffer
notes that West German courts thus placed relatively high monetary values on
housework, attempting to circumvent the crucial issue of financial dependence
without sending women out to work. There is then significant evidence of a
unique relationship to paid employment amongst east German women which is
likely to be the source of their attitudes towards the immense wave of
unemployment that they have suffered since unification.
3. The effects of
post-unification unemployment on women
The effects of the
persistently high levels of unemployment on east German women are inevitably
manifold. In addition to the financial implications, there is considerable
pressure on their role in society which had begun to change in the GDR years,
as well as a significant impact on their self-esteem. Although women now
represent less of the total unemployed than immediately post-unification, they
continue to represent 60.2% of the long-term unemployed. This has tended to make women less
adventurous in their career choice so that east German women’s representation
in technical and more advanced areas of education and training has been falling
sharply. This has meant greater
polarisation in male and female career choice than pre-unification. (See Table 2)[11]
This has, in turn, undoubtedly had a negative impact on the acceptance of women
competing in all fields amongst educators, employers and even the women
themselves. Unemployment and the threat
of unemployment has also naturally had an effect on east German women’s ability
to earn so that in 2001 only 33.6% of women in Saxony-Anhalt were earning their
living compared to 44.8% of the men, leaving women more reliant on social
security. This has been further exacerbated by the general tendency for lower
pay in traditional women’s professions. Thus when examining statistics on
income significantly larger numbers of women are falling into the lowest income
bracket. Thus for example in 2001 45.2% of women in Saxony-Anhalt were earning
less than 920 Euros whereas the proportion of men with this income was only
25.6%. (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 117)
For the majority of
respondents, however, unemployment primarily represents a “psychological
burden” rather than a “loss of financial benefits”. (N) There is common
reference to a sense of rejection and not belonging, that they no longer “feel
that they are needed by society” (N) and “no longer feel of value” (R) and that
they are simply “nothing”. (L) This is particularly pertinent for older women,
who find it impossible to maintain their self-respect when there is little hope
for any reintegration into the job market. It includes, however, women as young
as 45, who find it “incomprehensible that they are not needed, just when their
children are grown up and they have more time for work”. (O) There is also a
stress on the loss of human dignity that comes with the continuous form-filling
and the petitioning for benefits. (N) Furthermore, approximately 30% of the
unemployed women interviewed (including women on ABM-contracts) volunteered the
information that they had suffered from depression and other psychological
problems since their unemployment and two stated that they had had psychiatric
help. Another two were clearly drinking heavily “and sooner or later they fall
over” (B), and there was a general awareness that “lots of women have had nervous breakdowns”. (P)
Of particular
significance is that all of these effects have contributed to a significant
sense of alienation amongst unemployed east German women from German society. There
is a strong sense of feeling “pushed out” and “lonely” (N) as they find
themselves without the automatic links into a range of groups that the
workplace had provided in the GDR (M) and separated from those that have work
by their inability to join in conversations about new cars, houses, travel etc.
(Q) This alienation is also reflected in a high level of disillusion with the
German political system that has refused to address their interests:
There’s a lot of talk and then you don’t hear anything
and then it’s all come to nothing again. The main issue is unemployment and if
that’s not going to be solved then there’s really no point in all their
machinations. (B)
4. Attitudes towards
post-reunification unemployment and strategies against it
Contrary to Western
opinion which assumed that the “worn out East-mum” would surely welcome a break (Baureithel 1994: 153),
east German women have rejected unemployment in the strongest of terms:
I just can’t be happy with this
unemployment. It’s all I can think about. I want to provide for my child but I
can’t get a job. There’s such a sense of helplessness, such a sense of
bitterness‘. I just cannot come to terms with it. (L)
Many disadvantages are
listed:
Unemployment
means worrying about the future,
Unemployment
means no pension when you’re old,
Unemployment
means being dependent on your husband or partner,
Unemployment
means a constant decrease in your standard of living,
Unemployment
means social decline and no recognition of achievements,
Unemployment means losing
your self-respect. (Studie “Lebenschance-Lebensangst” des
Landesfrauenrates Sachsen-Anhalt 1999: 263)
Respondents are also
unhappy with the considerable drop in social contact they experience when
unemployed, as work in the GDR was a significant part of belonging to
society. Unemployment for these women is
thus perceived as a vicious circle of “being poor, having no friends and no
contacts and thus not being able to get work” (Studie
“Lebenschance-Lebensangst” des Landesfrauenrates Sachsen-Anhalt 1999: 261)
which, as indicated earlier, has also led to a significant level of political disillusion
and withdrawal amongst east German women.
It is also noted that
east German attitudes towards the “full-time mother role” as a potential
alternative to employment have tended to be significantly more negative than in
the West. Many unemployed women, in particular, describe this role as “second
class to working in every way” using adjectives such as “isolating, limiting
and even degrading”. (Krätschell 1991: 5) Unemployed women attempting to adapt
to a daily routine with their children describe intense difficulties and even
despair at the changes it involves. An early survey indicated that only 3%
would be happy to have simply a housewife role. (Bertram 1993: 29) and even by
2000 only 10% of the unemployed considered themselves to be housewives. (Sozialreport 2000 2001: 18) Not only do east German women speak very negatively
about unemployment but they have also resisted it strongly earning themselves
the title of the “arbeitsame Ostfrauen” as many have refused to bow to the
common social expectation that they should return to the home and stop
exacerbating the unemployment figures. (Arbeitsame Frauen in Ostdeutschland 1997: 3)
East German women’s
resistance to unemployment is to a great extent encapsulated by their desire to
“beat unemployment by continuing to get up in the morning”.(L) Thus simply
maintaining their registration as unemployed has become a political act denying
the attraction of the single-breadwinner ethos of the west. The strength of the
statement is reflected above all in a comparison with the West, whereby just
20% of non-working women register as unemployed in the old states compared to
60% in the east. (E.) This has also been one of the reasons that many
kindergartens have continued to have relatively high numbers as women registering
as unemployed have been obliged to keep their children in childcare to prove
their availability.[12] Significantly
the proportion of women amongst the unemployed has also been falling since
reunification as female unemployment has continued to rise but at a slower rate
than the male figure (see Table 3) (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 143). It
cannot be ignored, of course, that lower unemployment figures could also be as
a result of fewer women registering as unemployed as more women adapt to being
housewives, although the figures available do not seem to bear this out as
officially the number of ‘non-working’ women has also fallen since 1991 (See Table 4)
(Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 144).
Statistics also reveal a
high level of re-training amongst women and indeed in some cases to a greater
extent than men (Bertram 1993: 29). They are
also more likely to accept a level of demotion, rather than not work (Kolinsky 1995: 177). This
determination is also reflected in the higher participation in job creation
schemes by women, although the gap is closing as the number of ABM posts is
reduced (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt
2002: 171). Amongst respondents in
Women have also
demonstrated significant resourcefulness in the founding of an extensive set of
women’s networks. In Saxony-Anhalt in 2000 there were approximately 70 Frauenkommunikationszentren (women’s
communication centres) (Frauendschungelbuch 1999: 237-53), which provided a range of sporting and
creative activities as well as discussion groups and advice on a range of
issues relating to finding work and claiming unemployment benefits. Particularly
impressive was that 24 such centres existed in just one region, Aschersleben,
where the Gleichstellungsbeauftragte
(Equal Opportunities Officer) had prioritised local women’s need for contact
outside the home in an essentially rural area. More recently, there have been a
number of closures as finances have been significantly reduced.
A particularly worrying
reaction to unemployment has been the high level of emigration away from the
new states. In Saxony-Anhalt the number of women leaving, particularly younger
women, has been increasing since the late 90s and in some years more women have
left than men (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 104). In particular the deficit
between emigration and immigration has been significantly higher (approximately
double) for women. Recent research into the reasons given for considering
emigration indicates that women appear to be primarily motivated by the need to
find work whereas there is evidence of more varied motivation amongst men. Ninety
per cent of women stated, for example, that they would not leave Saxony-Anhalt
whilst they had work and this figure increased with age. (See Table 5) (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 20) A possible contributing factor for the high
female figure is that women are also less likely to commute to another state in
order to get work. (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 167) Clearly the net loss of female citizens,
primarily of child-bearing age, has significant implications for the already
strong decline in the birth rate and there is growing concern in the new states
as to how this can be addressed. Linked to this concern is the so-called Gebärstreik[13] of the early 1990s, which resulted in an
unprecedented 60% drop in the birth-rate between 1989 and 1994, to the lowest
ever figure in Germany, which has still not in any way recovered (Conrad et al 1995: 1). Both this trend and the increase in female
sterilisation and abortions have also been linked to east German women’s
determination to remain employable (Conrad et al 1995: 9).
It is then a considerable testimony to east German women’s determination to remain in employment that they can also demonstrate relative success in staying in work. Thus, there is still a difference of around 20% between the employment rates of east and west German women, with east German women also still likely to be working significantly longer hours. Furthermore, despite continued pressures to return to the home and look after their children, this rate has been rising again in the last few years (Sozialreport 2000 2001: 17). The statistics on working mothers show that more women with young children are also still managing to work in the East than in the West. It should also be noted, however, that there has been a significant drop in full-time work (over 40 hours) to just 57.1% whilst this figure is higher than in the West (Gender-Institute Sachsen-Anhalt 2002: 151). Moreover, there has also been progress in the number of women unemployed compared to men. The female percentage of the unemployed in Saxony-Anhalt, initially substantially higher than the percentage of men, has now dropped to just over half so that women comprised just 51.7% of the unemployed in 2001. (See Table 3)
It is notable that such
statistics have also been achieved against a background of significant barriers
to female employment. The constant cuts in child-care including the closing
down of many kindergartens have significantly increased travel time and
shortened the hours women are available for work (T), at a time when greater
flexibility is required by the employer. Increases in child-care fees and
travel have then also had a negative impact on the costs that women now need to
offset against their pay. Furthermore, recruitment policies have been overtly
discriminatory since the collapse of east German industry, reverting back to a
“single breadwinner per household” philosophy which favours the husband. Despite
anti-discrimination laws, respondents have described how they are repeatedly
asked about their children at interview or even whether their husband needs the
car. In this climate it is a further tribute to east German mothers’
determination to work that child-care has been maintained at a significantly
higher level in Saxony-Anhalt and in the other new states.[14]
5. Conclusion
Despite some
expectations that east German women would by now have noticeably withdrawn from
the job market and be taking up a more positive role in the home, there is
still significant evidence to the contrary. Many east German women continue to
express their rejection of unemployment in the strongest of terms and insist
that they will remain on the job market. They are supported in this to a
certain extent by general attitudes to female employment in the new states
which have been characterised as “growing approval”, whilst in the West
equivalent attitudes have been seen to be “stagnating or in decline”. Thus
around 50% of West German men still feel that women’s role is in the home
whereas this figure is just 25% amongst their east German peers (Statistisches
Bundesamt 1997: 70). At the same time, however, the obstacles have increased as
the demands of the workplace have grown and East German women have had to
implement a range of strategies to stay in work from sterilisation to moving
away from their home. In this many have demonstrated incredible resilience, in
taking on ABM positions, retraining and starting new careers.
It could be that the
determination of the individual to stay in employment could prove to be East
German women’s most powerful tool. Certainly, East German women are still
struggling to achieve a political voice. Hildegard Maria Nickel terms the
phenomenon east German women’s “resistivity” and asks whether it is simply a
“temporary aberrance” which will vanish with the new generation or whether the
“eastern model” will, in fact, shape the future for western men and women (Nickel 2000: 111). Indeed
there are already signs that the “east German model” has influenced the
Key to women Interviewed
(A) Frau
Bormeister and Frau Speckhahn, Equal Opportunities Officers for Salzwedel, 45
years and 41 years, politically active
(B) Frau Staniul, Unemployed, 46 years, not
politically active
(C) Members of the ÖTV Unemployed Committee, politically active within this group
but not specifically for women
(D) Frau E. Rogee, State MP for the PDS, Women’s
Representative in the HBV Union, 52 years, politically active
(E) Frau D. Heinrich, Building Engineer, 45 years,
not politically active
(F) Frau I. Wichert, Women’s Representative for the
Trade Union ÖTV, 47 years, politically active
(G) Frau B.
Köhler, Dentist’s Technician, 45
(H) Frau D.
Mydla, Civil Servant, 46 years, no longer politically active
(I) Frau G.
Kuppe, Minister for Work, Women, Health and Social Security, 55 years,
politically active but not directly for women
(J) Frau W.
Jänicke, Pensioner, 60 years, not politically active
(K) Frau C. Radak, Accountant for the Green Party,
42 years, politically active.
(L) Frau E. Weke, ABM-employee with
(M) Elke Plöger, former ‘Staatssekretärin für
Frauenpolitik’ (State Secretary for Women’s Policy) in Saxony-Anhalt , 54
years, politically active.
(N) Heidi and Erika, Unemployed, 54 and 62 years, not politically active.
(O) Frau Overheu, Unemployed factory worker, 50 years, not
politically active.
(P) Conny
Schütze, Student, 19 years, not politically active.
(Q) Dr B. Wömpner, Unemployed Chemist, 48 years,
not politically active.
(R) Frau Dohrendorf , Unemployed, 44 years, not politically active
(S) Frau Brummer,
Unemployed, 49 years, not politically active.
(T)
Katja, Librarian, 25 years, not politically
active.
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Landesfrauenrates Sachsen-Anhalt (1999). In: Iser, Dorothea; Seidel, Christina
(1999) Versuchungen… und kein bißchen
Angst vor einflußreichen Männern. Oschersleben: Dr. Ziethen Verlag, 231-97
Studie
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Iser, Dorothea; Seidel, Christina (1999) Versuchungen…und
kein bißchen Angst vor einflußreichen Männern. Oschersleben: Dr. Ziethen
Verlag, 231-97.
Süssmuth,
Ruth; Schubert Helga (1992) Bezahlen die
Frauen die Wiedervereinigung? München: Piper Verlag
Winkler,
Gunnar (1990) Frauenreport. Berlin: Die
Wirtschaft
Biodata
Debbie Wagener has
taught languages in Higher Education since 1987 firstly at
Appendix
ARBEITSLOSEN-QUOTEN |
2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998 |
1997 |
1996 |
1995 |
1994 |
1993 |
1992 |
1991 |
alle zivilen Erwerbspersonen insgesamt |
17.7 |
17.3 |
17.1 |
17.3 |
17.8 |
17.7 |
15.5 |
13.9 |
14.8 |
|
|
|
abhängige
Erwerbspersonen |
19.2 |
18.8 |
18.5 |
18.7 |
19.2 |
19.1 |
16.6 |
14.8 |
15.7 |
15.4 |
14.4 |
10.2 |
Männer |
19.5 |
18.5 |
17.8 |
17.3 |
17.5 |
16.7 |
14.1 |
11.3 |
11.3 |
11.3 |
10.6 |
8.7 |
Frauen |
18.9 |
19.0 |
19.3 |
20.2 |
21.0 |
21.6 |
19.2 |
18.5 |
20.4 |
19.9 |
18.5 |
11.9 |
Jugendliche
unter 20 Jahren |
8.9 |
9.4 |
10.5 |
10.6 |
11.4 |
11.4 |
9.6 |
8.0 |
7.2 |
|
|
|
Jugendliche von 20 bis unter 25 Jahren |
20.6 |
19.7 |
20.2 |
18.9 |
20.7 |
19.1 |
16.4 |
14.7 |
15.9 |
|
|
|
Jüngere unter 25
Jahren |
16.4 |
16.1 |
16.8 |
16.1 |
17.4 |
16.5 |
14.3 |
12.7 |
13.4 |
|
|
|
Ausländer |
38.6 |
36.8 |
34.8 |
35.1 |
33.8 |
35.7 |
39.9 |
34.4 |
31.4 |
|
|
|
Entwicklung der Erwerbslosen im Zeitraum 1991 bis 2001 [15] |
||||
Jahr |
Weiblich |
Männlich
|
||
|
1.000 |
% |
1.000 |
% |
1991 |
95,0 |
58,5 |
67,4 |
41,5 |
1993 |
161,2 |
64,6 |
88,4 |
35,4 |
1995 |
162,9 |
62,7 |
97,1 |
37,3 |
1997 |
175,1 |
58,1 |
137,2 |
43,9 |
1999 |
166,9 |
54,1 |
141,4 |
45,9 |
2001 |
148,8 |
51,7 |
138,9 |
48,3 |
Quelle:
Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt, eigene Berechnungen
Entwicklung der Nichtserwerbspersonen im Zeitraum 1991
bis 2001[16] |
||||
Jahr |
Weiblich |
Männlich |
||
|
1.000 |
% |
1.000 |
% |
1991 |
757,8 |
57,6 |
556,8 |
42,4 |
1993 |
774,2 |
55,9 |
610,6 |
44,1 |
1995 |
739,9 |
56,3 |
575,3 |
43,7 |
1997 |
729,8 |
56,1 |
570,7 |
43,9 |
1999 |
722,2 |
56,8 |
548,3 |
43,2 |
2001 |
712,8 |
56,7 |
544,9 |
43,3 |
Quelle: Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt,
eigene Berechnungen
Statementbatterie zum Wegzug aus Sachsen-Anhalt (Angabe in %)[17] |
||||||||||||
Statement |
Weiblich |
Männlich |
||||||||||
|
<20 |
20-30 |
30-40 |
40-50 |
50-60 |
>60 |
<20 |
20-30 |
30-40 |
40-50 |
50-60 |
>60 |
auf keinem Fall Freunde durch Umzug
verlieren |
57,1 |
59,5 |
70,5 |
40,5 |
56,4 |
75,0 |
57,9 |
59,1 |
60,3 |
59,4 |
51,0 |
66,7 |
Wer was erreichen will, muss in den
Westen gehen |
75,9 |
38,0 |
47,7 |
33,8 |
58,2 |
43,2 |
60,0 |
46,6 |
46,4 |
60,9 |
50,0 |
42,9 |
Kann mir nicht vorstellen, nähere
Heimat zu verlassen |
14,3 |
44,98 |
61,4 |
67,1 |
67,3 |
74,4 |
30,0 |
39,8 |
52,2 |
55,1 |
54,9 |
65,7 |
Finde es spannend, in einer anderen Gegend
zu leben |
78,6 |
44,2 |
23,9 |
15,3 |
14,8 |
24,7 |
55,0 |
50,0 |
21,7 |
23,2 |
22,0 |
17,1 |
So lange ich Arbeit habe, würde ich
SA nicht verlassen |
88,9 |
84,6 |
90,8 |
91,7 |
96,5 |
90,8 |
70,0 |
77,3 |
86,8 |
95,7 |
92,2 |
88,9 |
Quelle:
Erhebung zur Lebenssituation von Frauen und Männern in Sachsen-Anhalt, 2002
[2] Engels further argued
that there was a new equality developing in capitalist society as a result of
increasing female labour in factory production, despite the appalling working
conditions. (Bryson 1992: 67).
[3]An Ordinance
granting working women 20 hours per week study time at full pay to upgrade to
become engineers, (Winkler 1990: 68).
[4] Compare the
figure of 15.8% in 1971. (Kolinsky 1989: 43)
[5] Thus men could
prevent their wives from working until 1977, women were only given an equal say
in decisions effecting the children in 1980, and equal pay was not prescribed
until 1982.
[6] Female
employment in the late 80s was 52% and this included a large proportion of
part-time posts, some of which were relatively short hours. (Hellmich 2000:
11).
[7] This quotation
and others originally in German have been translated into English by the
author.
[8] ‘Also the
chronic labour shortage of an economy with a very low productivity rate made
the participation of women more than a desirable goal. Their participation in
the labor force was a necessity both for the economy and the family income.’
(Conrad, Lechner & Welf 1993: 3)
[9] Letters refer to
the list of respondents given in the key at the end and quotations from these
interviews have
been translated
from German by the author.
[10]
In 1977 it was valued at DM 2,300 per month. (Shaffer 1981: 31)
[11] Even early
statistics have shown a shift in representation of women in these areas. (Magistrat Magdeburg,
Amt für
Gleichstellungsfragen 1992: 62)
[12] Interview with Katrin Esche, Head of Kindergarten Am
Bruch, Oschersleben, Sachsen Anhalt, July 2000.
[13] Many respondents
commented on this term and were generally unhappy with the implication of
deliberate action. They put forward an alternative motivation of fear and
uncertainty for the future.
[14] Interview with
Katrin Esche, July 2000.
[15] Gender-Institut
Sachsen-Anhalt (2002) : 143
[16] Gender-Institut Sachsen-Anhalt (2002) : 144
[17] Gender-Institut Sachsen-Anhalt (2002): 20