Equality for women, child rearing, and the state in the former German Democratic Republic

This article explores some of the complexities of the concept of "equality" (Gleichberechfigung) for women in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) before and after unification through the analysis of in-depth interviews with eight women in East Berlin and some relevant state documents. According to the constitution (Verfassung der DDR, 1968. Berlin: Staatsverlag), women in the GDR had equal rights including the "right and duty" to be in paid employment. The state developed comprehensive social policy measures to enable women to combine motherhood and workforce participation. Because a high number of women were in paid employment, state representatives claimed that women were able to practice their equality. However, the present study showed that while laws and social policy measures gave women some social power in the form of financial independence of an individual partner and self-confidence through paid work, these measures were not enough to facilitate the realization of "equality" in both the work and the family spheres. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.