Working hours and wishes regarding working hours among women in western and eastern Germany

Abstract

"In the debate regarding women in employment, the problem of combining work and family plays a central role. In the old federal states the option of taking up part-time work has developed into a more frequently 'chosen' solution to this problem for women with children. In this way part-time work has become the domain of women. As a consequence of the living and working conditions which have changed since 1989/1990, it seemed natural to expect a similar trend for the new federal states, too. In order to discover more about the working hours and wishes regarding working hours of women in eastern and western Germany in their socio-economic relationship - in particular against the background of current political debates concerning the flexibilisation and reduction of working hours - the subject of working hours was taken as a focal point in the survey of women carried out late 1995 by the IAB. The bivariate and multivariate analyses on which this article is based (again) reach the result that there are still more differences than similarities between the working and living situations of women in eastern and western Germany. The labour force participation and the extent of employment of eastern German women is still clearly higher than is the case for western German women. The difference would be even greater if the wishes of all women regarding employment could be put into action. The comparison between full- and part-time workers shows that in many respects the gap between these two groups is considerably greater in the west than in the east. In particular women in full-time employment show very different socio-demographic structures in the old and new federal states. As far as the potential of female workers who would be prepared to change to part-time work is concerned, this proves to be limited in both west and east. The deficit of qualified part-time jobs and/or part-time opportunities in sectors which at present offer little in the way of part-time work seems to be an important reason which has so far prevented these women from reducing their working hours. The main reason for women wishing to work part-time at all can be found in the well-known problem of the double burden of work and family for working women. From the point of view of the women therefore both sides - and in addition the state (childcare) institutions - are called to remedy this problem with measures which are tailored to the different situations and needs of women." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Beckmann, P. & Kempf, B. (1996): Arbeitszeit und Arbeitszeitwünsche von Frauen in West- und Ostdeutschland. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 388-408.