Right from the start, in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), policies for women and families were closely linked. The guiding principle was the image of the “socialist person”, who, regardless of whether they were male or female, should be a “well-educated” and full-time professional who made a contribution to society.
In 1950, shortly after the founding of the GDR, a “law on the protection of mothers and children and the rights of women” was enacted. This clearly broke with the tradition of National Socialism, which had defined women primarily through their role as mothers. Thus, §14 stipulated that:
“marriage does not result in any restriction or reduction of the woman’s rights” and even more explicitly in §15: “Marriage must not prevent the woman from practising a profession or pursuing vocational training and her social and political further education; even if this results in a temporary physical separation of the spouses.”
Single mothers
The rights of women who had illegitimate children were also strengthened by this 1950 law in §17(1):
“The illegitimate birth is not a blemish. The mother of an illegitimate child has full parental rights, which may not be diminished by the appointment of a guardian for the child.”
These regulations were in direct contrast to the laws in force in Western Germany at that time, some of which continued to discriminate against wives and single parents for another decade.
Childcare facilities
Childcare facilities throughout the GDR offered times that were compatible with the everyday life of normal working women. Care was usually available from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. In larger companies, company kindergartens were common, so that employees did not need to travel further.
There was also childcare at higher educational institutions such as colleges and universities, so that studies did not have to be interrupted by childbirth. Family rooms in student halls of residence made it easier to start a family early on. Marrying young and having children was common in the GDR. The average age of a mother having her first child in 1989 was almost 23 years. One reason for this was the serious housing shortage. Apartments were hard to access for young adults living alone. However, marriage and pregnancy paved the way for a first apartment.
High full-time employment rates
The acceptance of childcare outside the home was very high in the GDR, because the social norm of full-time employment also applied to mothers, so that most went back to work after the baby year was over. This was the only way to achieve the high labour force participation rate of 91% in 1989 – the highest worldwide. In the same year, 80% of children under the age of three were cared for in a public facility. The proportion was even higher for children over the age of three. There was no cost barrier, since only a very small meal fee had to be paid.
The baby year
The baby year was initially only for single parents. Later it was extended to married couples with a second child, and from 1986 to all mothers – with full wage compensation. If the child was ill, mothers could receive many additional days of paid leave per year. In the GDR, no woman had to risk being dismissed because of pregnancy, babycare responsibilities or sick children. Since 1976, mothers had also been entitled to reduced weekly working hours from the second child onwards.
There were no gaps in childcare during the transition to school, because all-day schools were common, and after-school care was usually offered until 6 pm. Children attended numerous organised leisure activities in sports, language or other interest groups that provided regular and supervised activities in the afternoon.
Still classic gender roles in practice
Political support for an equalisation of the professional life of men and women in the GDR was pronounced. However, there was little support for the equalisation of classic gender roles. Although there was a greater division of labour between men and women, for women the double burden at home remained. This was even institutionalised, in that there was a monthly “household day” for mothers and married women. Men were only entitled to these days in exceptional cases, namely, when they were single parents.
Since women were thus entitled to an additional 12 days off, it seemed justified to continue giving them the lion’s share of unpaid work. Mothers with many children received special support, e.g. they got more vacation days and their weekly working hours were shorter – with full wage compensation.
Parental leave in modern Germany
How does the GDR policy for mothers compare with current parental rights in modern, unified Germany? I met a young German mother of boys aged nine and seven years and six months in my Spanish class. I asked her about how she combined having children with her working life.
Mothers are given six weeks prior to their due date and eight weeks after the baby is born. This is called Mutterschutz (protection of mothers). Their wages are paid during this period by the health insurance everybody contributes to.
After these 14 weeks, the State takes over if the mother doesn’t want to return to work.
The parents’ choice
The so-called Elternzeit (parental time) of one to three years is determined by the choices the mother and father make. Mothers can stay at home for up to three years, during which time their job is kept for them to return to. In the first year, mothers are paid 65–67% of their wage by the State. If they opt for two years’ parental time, they get 33% of their wage for those two years. Fathers can take additional two months per year of parental time off work on the same terms. The third parental year is unpaid, but the job is held open for the mother. They are allowed to work a few hours per week to subsidise their income by arrangement with the family department of their local council. It is permissible to earn around €450 per month.
My new friend has not worked for the past four years and will take advantage of the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mum for another two years. She does work from home for a few hours every week, which she manages to do while the older boys are at school.
She is lucky, as her husband had also taken a couple of months off work when they first moved to Spain. That helped her and the children settle in faster.
Comparing GDR and current Germany
In the GDR, mothers were offered more support to return to work. In present-day Germany, my friend tells me, there are not enough kindergarten places to help working parents. However, there is less pressure for mothers to return to work if they choose to stay at home. If they can cope with the financial support available, mothers have choices. Employers have to accept their decision.
From a psychological point of view, in my view, individual choices by parents are important. Some children cope well with childcare in nurseries and kindergarten. Some prefer to be with other children, and mothers find they can leave them for a few hours with them barely noticing that they were left. Other toddlers might go through a phase where being left with strangers can be traumatic. In my German friend’s case, her older boys enjoyed nursery, but it took her a year to find a vacancy in her town.
And what about the UK?
If you want to know how German arrangements for parental leave compare with those in the UK, both parents in Germany are entitled to four months’ parental leave. Flexible working and working from home became more frequent during the pandemic, and parents might find these a way of spending more time on childcare.
As I wrote on Father’s Day in 2021:
“In a study by the OECD, the UK was found to be far behind other countries on parental leave pay.
“Back in 2019, the Government promised to bring forward the Government’s Employment Bill to do a number of things: It was meant to transform working life for millions of people with caring responsibilities. The measures promised to make flexible working the default for new jobs. Also, to provide workers in insecure jobs with rights to have more predictable schedules. They offered to strengthen redundancy rights for new mothers and offer neo-natal care leave.”
