Pergamon Titles of Related Interest Baehr WOMEN AND MEDIA Bauer & Ritt FREE AND ENOBLED Foster COMPARATIVE PUBLIC POLICY AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Schulz & Adams POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNIST SYSTEMS Stewart THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN COMMUNITY POLITICS IN THE U.S. Welsh SURVEY RESEARCH AND PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN EASTERN ERUOPE AND THE SOVIET UNION Related Journals* CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW HABITAT INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE: Part C: Medical Economics WOMEN'S STUDIES INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY WORLD DEVELOPMENT *Free specimen copies available upon request. Pergamon Titles of Related Interest Baehr WOMEN AND MEDIA Bauer & Ritt FREE AND ENOBLED Foster COMPARATIVE PUBLIC POLICY AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Schulz & Adams POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNIST SYSTEMS Stewart THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN COMMUNITY POLITICS IN THE U.S. Welsh SURVEY RESEARCH AND PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN EASTERN ERUOPE AND THE SOVIET UNION Related Journals* CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW HABITAT INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE: Part C: Medical Economics WOMEN'S STUDIES INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY WORLD DEVELOPMENT *Free specimen copies available upon request. 1 PERGAMON ON SOCIAL ISSUES POLICY STUDIES Women in the Two Germanies A Comparative Study of A Socialist and a Non-Socialist Society Harry G. Shaffer Pergamon Press NEW YORK · OXFORD · TORONTO · SYDNEY · PARIS · FRANKFURT Pergamon Press Offices: U.S.A. Pergamon Press Inc.. Maxwell House, Fairview Park. Elmsford. New York 10523. U.S.A. U.K. Pergamon Press Ltd.. Headington Hill Hall. Oxford 0X3 OBW. England CANADA Pergamon of Canada. Ltd., Suite 104. 150 Consumers Road. Willowdale. Ontario M2J 1P9. Canada AUSTRALIA Pergamon Press (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.. P.O. Box 544. Potts Point. NSW 2011. Australia FRANCE Pergamon Press SARL. 24 rue des Ecoles. 75240 Paris. Cedex 05. France FEDERAL REPUBLIC Pergamon Press GmbH. Hammerweg 6. Postfach 1305. OF GERMANY 6242 Kronberg/Taunus. Federal Republic of Germany Copyright © 1981 Pergamon Press Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Shaffer, Harry G Women in the two Germanies. (Pergamon policy studies on social issues) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Women—Germany, East. 2. Women—Employment- Germany, East. 3. Education of women—Germany, East. 4. Women's rights—Germany, East. 5. Women—Germany, West. 6. Women—Employment—Germany, West. 7. Education of Women—Germany, West. 8. Women's rights—Germany, West. I. Title. II. Series. HQ1630.5.S52 1981 305.4'2'0943 80-22624 ISBN 0-08-023862-9 All Rights reserved. 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Printed in the United States of America To my children Bernie, Ron, Lennie and Tanya - and to women everywhere who struggle for equal rights and opportunities List of Tables and Figures Tables 1.1 Area and Pre- and Post-World War II Population, (FRG and GDR) 3 1.2 Population, 1939-1978 (FRG and GDR) 7 2.1 Current Legal Regulations on Paid Leave to Take Care of Sick Child (FRG and GDR) 18 2.2 Theoretical Retirement Income of Spouses Divorced At Age 65 or Older (FRG) 37 2.3 Monthly State Child Subsidies (FRG and GDR) 41 2.4 Maternal Death Rates (FRG and GDR) 51 2.5 Reasons for Abortions Legally Performed in the FRG (FRG) 54 3.1 Labor Force (FRG and GDR) 56 3.2 Gainfully Employed (FRG and GDR) 57 3.3 Unemployment (FRG) 63 3.4 Part-Time Work (FRG and GDR) 69 3.5 Twenty Major Reasons Why GDR Women Choose Part-Time Employment (GDR) 70 3.6 Participation of German Women in Selected Service Industries (1936) 71 3.7 Female Participation in Selected Branches of the Economy (FRG and GDR) 72 3.8 Female Trainees for Skilled Workers' Positions (FRG and GDR) 73 3.9 Women's Participation Rate in Selected Professions, Other Than Government (FRG and GDR) 76 3.10 Titles of Honor Bestowed on Meritorious Workers (GDR) 79 3.11 Women in Western National Parliaments (1972) 84 3.12 Female Delegates to the National Parliaments (FRG and GDR) 85 XI Xll TABLES AND FIGURES 3.13 Women in Elected Political Positions (FRG and GDR) 86 3.14 Female Members of the West and East German National Parliaments by Professions and Age Groups (FRG and GDR) 87 3.15 Female Members and Female Candidate Members of the SED Central Committee 1950-1971 (GDR) 90 3.16 Female Participation in SED District Leadership Secretariats 1949-1971 (GDR) 91 3.17 Women in Major West German Political Parties (FRG) 92 3.18 Women in Responsible DGB Positions (FRG) 94 3.19 Average Gross Income of Gainfully Employed (FRG) 97 3.20 Monthly Net Income of Gainfully Employed (FRG) 98 3.21 Places Available in West German Child Care Facilities 104 3.22 Places Available in GDR Child Care Facilities 106 4.1 West German Schools 119 4.2 Girls Enrolled in West German Schools 123 4.3 Enrollment in Vocational Schools (GDR) 126 4.4 Female Students Enrolled in German Institutions of Higher Learning (FRG and GDR) 129 4.5 Enrollment in West German Institutions of Higher Learning, 1978-79 133 4.6 Gainfully Employed Female College Graduates in Selected Disciplines, 1971 (GDR) 135 5.1 Children Born Out of Wedlock (FRG and GDR) 143 5.2 Distribution of Household Chores in Multi-Person Homes, GDR 145 5.3 Marriages and Divorces (FRG and GDR) 149 5.4 Divorces (FRG and GDR) 150 5.5 Divorce Proceedings Initiated by the Wife (FRG) 152 Figure 4.1 GDR School System 124 Preface The problem of women's rights has become one of the most burning issues of present days. The United Nations has adopted conventions and passed declarations aimed at the elimination of discrimination against women; 1975 was proclaimed International Women's Year; heads of nations East and West have addressed themselves to the problem of equal rights for women; books galore have been published on the subject; and appropriate legislation has been enacted in countries around the globe. In the West in particular, periodicals have appeared and organizations have been formed whose primary if not exclusive goal is the emancipation of women. Western non-socialist countries point to progress achieved, but are aware of prevailing inadequacies and of prejudices and discriminatory treatment yet to be overcome. Socialist countries(l) hold that the true emancipation of women is impossible under capitalism; they proclaim that under their system women have already achieved equality under the law and that in actual practice they are far ahead of non-socialist countries; but they do not deny that they have not yet attained full equality of the sexes in all aspects of life. For several years now, I have been interested in the status of women in socialist as compared with non-socialist countries, and in the progress women have made under their respective systems. In 1977, I published a study on "How Emancipated is the Soviet Woman as Compared to her Sister in the United States."(2) But due to widely (1) Here and henceforth, unless otherwise stated, "socialist" shall refer to the Marxist-Leninist type of socialism in such countries as the Soviet Union, Poland, or East Germany (the GDR), who assert to be working toward the goal of a perfectly communist society. (2) Oesterreichische Osthefte, Winter 1977, pp. 245-64; a slightly shortened and less footnoted version of it was published in Kansas Business Review, November 1977, pp. 1-9. Xlll xiv PREFACE divergent historic, cultural, and social backgrounds, there is a world of difference between Russian and American women. In a sense, the emancipation of Soviet women is the more impressive because the Soviets inherited a social environment in which women had been more deprived, more downtrodden, more at the mercy of their men, and in which they were surely less educated and less aware than women in the United States or, for that matter, anywhere in the West. Yet, I saw great merit in comparing women with essentially the same background, currently living under different social systems. Hence my decision to engage in a comparative study of the position of women in the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany - West Germany) and the GDR (German Democratic Republic - East Germany). What is to be compared, then, is the status and position of women in the two Germanies: in the West, a pluralistic, basically free-enterprise society, much more welfare-oriented than the United States (tuition- free universities, paid maternity leaves, a nationwide prepaid health insurance program for all workers, etc.), but still with but limited functions reserved for government, its attitudes shaped largely by its Judeo-Christian background, and in the international arena aligned with Western countries; in East Germany, a socialist planned economy, with the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in control, officially committed to Marxist-Leninist ideology, and aligned with the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe. In comparing the status and position of women in the two Ger manies, a wide variety of legal, economic, political, and social aspects of life in the two countries will be taken into consideration, such as equality or the lack thereof under the law, in education, on the job, and in the home. On the other hand, the fact that, for instance, such basic necessities as milk, bread, and apartment rents are cheaper in East than in West Germany but good clothing or appliances are much more expensive, or that FRG citizens are free to travel to Paris but GDR citizens are not, might also be interesting facets of life in the two Germanies; however since these apply to men and women equally, they would not be directly relevant to this study and have therefore been omitted. I began my research on the status of women in the two Germanies in 1977, and in 1978, spent eight months there. While there, I made extensive use of excellent library facilities, especially at the East Europe Institute of the Free University in West Berlin. I also succeeded in obtaining much valuable material from such official agencies and organizations as the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family, and Health in Bonn or the GDR Committee for Human Rights in Berlin, GDR. During my stay in Germany, I also carried out extensive interviews, both East and West. But I soon became aware of my limitations; to obtain a scientifically valid, stratified, random sample, it would have been necessary to interview many hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals in all walks of life and from all parts of the FRG and the GDR. Unable to do this, I decided on a more modest approach. While I did talk to and asked questions of university students, workers, house- PREFACE xv wives, and others, I focused my attention primarily on women "in the know," women close to the problem I was investigating. I interviewed such women as Gisela Helwig in Cologne and Jutta Menschik in West Berlin who have published books on women in the FRG and the GDR and who have reached somewhat divergent conclusions; Professor Helge Pross at Siegen, who has published books and engaged in extensive original research projects on the problems of women in the FRG; Inge Gabert in Munich, who is a member of the Bavarian legislative assembly and head of Bavaria's Social-Democratic Women; Beate Hesse, As sistant Expert Adviser on Women at the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family and Health in Bonn; Liselotte Funcke, Delegate from North Rhine-Westphalia and Vice President of the West German Parliament, also in Bonn; and Erika Runge, author of many books and TV scripts on social problems in East and West Germany, director of West German TV films, and member of the Communist Party of West Germany. In the GDR, I interviewed, among others, Professor Traute Schoenrath, who teaches theory of state and law at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig and has been much concerned with legal aspects of women's rights in the GDR; Dr. Herta Kuhrig, Director of the research team "The Woman in Socialist Society" at the GDR Academy of Sciences in Berlin; and Dr. Helga Hoerz, Chairperson of the Department of Ethics at Humboldt University, Berlin, and GDR Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Some critics will undoubtedly ask whether this kind of research ought to be carried out by a man. I plead nolo contendere to being a man; but I do not feel that a study on women must necessarily be made by a member of the female sex, any more than a study of the culture of American Indians must necessarily be made by an Indian. I could point out that a masterpiece on the evolution of democratic society in the United States was produced by a Frenchman who spent only one year in this country;(3) that the best known work on the history of Nazi Germany was written by an American;(4) that more than a century and a quarter ago, an early piece advocating women's rights was written and published by a renowned nineteenth century male social scientist ;(5) and that the pathbreaking work on American race relations comes from the pen of a Swede.(6) Although I do not mean to compare my humble efforts with those of the authors mentioned above, I do not believe that my sex interfered with my comprehension or in any way prejudiced my analysis of the issues treated in this book. (3) Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 4 vols, 1835-40. (4) William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 1959. (5) John Stuart Mill, Enfranchisement of Women, 1851. (6) Gunner Myrdal, An American Dilemma, 1944.