Differences in women's employment patterns and family policies

Eastern and western Germany

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2172196
AutoresBirgit Pfau-Effinger (0000-0001-8915-8397, Universität Hamburg, autor correspondente), Maike Smidt (Universität Hamburg)
Ano2011
Volume14
Fascículo2
Páginas217-232
Data de publicação2011-05-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCommunity Work & Family (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1366-8803 • E-ISSN: 1469-3615
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13668803.2011.571401
OpenAlexW1987269550
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas42
Referências citadas19

Individuals do not react in a simple manner to the incentives and restrictions of a welfare state's policies. The impact of policies on their behaviour is mediated by many factors, primarily cultural, but also social, economic, and institutional. Germany presents an ideal case study of family policies, culture, employment, and child care practices. Though family policies of the central welfare state have remained the same in eastern and western Germany during the last 20 years, the employment patterns of women with preschool children differ systematically in both regions. It will be shown below that in their behaviour regarding employment vis-à-vis childcare, women with young children in both parts of Germany use the options differently. These differences can largely be explained by differences in the cultural values and models of the family in western and eastern Germany, and their interaction with institutional and economic factors in two different development paths

Child care · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Incentive · Market economy · Parental leave · Political science · Social policy · Sociology · State (computer science · Welfare · Welfare state · Social and Demographic Issues in Germany · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Work-Family Balance Challenges