Regional Differences in Childcare Availability and Employment Trajectories around First Childbirth in East and West Germany, 1990-2021

Sophia Fauser , Humboldt University of Berlin
Emanuela Struffolino, University of Milan and Humboldt-Univerisität zu Berlin
Asaf Levanon, University of Haifa

Focusing on a period of extensive increases in childcare availability, we investigate differences in employment trajectories around first childbirth in East and West Germany over time. During Germany’s division (1945-1990), universal childcare and female employment were the norm in East Germany, while the male breadwinner model was dominant in the West. Even several years after reunification, regional differences in women’s labor force attachment persist, though declining. In 2008 a widespread reform targeted the expansion of childcare availability, especially in West Germany, to facilitate mother’s employment. We use methods of sequence analysis to investigate changes in differences in mother’s employment trajectories around childbirth, comparing pre- and post-reform periods in East and West Germany. By utilizing data from the Socio-Economic Panel (1990-2021), we analyze 1,551 mothers. Applying tests for measuring differences between groups of sequence, we find that regional differences in employment trajectories are less pronounced after the reform. Still, implicative statistics for analyzing sequences of typical states reveal that in both time periods, inactivity post birth is more prevalent for West German mothers, while full-time employment is more prevalent in the East. Lastly, a sequence regression tree that pools all sequences shows that pre-birth working status is the most important factor for explaining sequence discrepancies, however the region and the historical period follow right after. We conclude that regional differences in mothers’ employment trajectories have partly reduced over the years. While childcare expansion might be contributing to this development, pre-birth labor force attachment explains most of the variance between sequences.

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 Presented in Session 118. Work and Family