- Joined
- Sep 29, 2016
It crac
Arbeit Macht Frie, eh Franz?Akshually, women had it better in East Germany than in West Germany. The German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs even views the German Reunion as a setback for women's rights in the East.
The East German Communist Party thought that the emancipation of women would be accomplished when the general emancipation of the working class as a whole was realized. The "women’s question" was directly incorporated into the social question. Feminists were perceived as a disturbance within the class struggle and a danger to the objectives of communism.
As a result, women were encouraged to apply for jobs and not just become a housewife and their rights in the workplace were more advanced than in West Germany. The rate of female employment was higher than in the West Germany and the pay gap between the two sexes wasn't so severe. There were also much better support structures for mothers in the workplace and for those enrolled in college. The birth rate was higher than in West Germany and, after the Reunion, quickly hit rock bottom.
