“We used the large dataset of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from 2000 until 2017 to
simulate the effects of economic incentives and social factors on mothers’ employment decisions,”
says Zainab Iftikhar from the EPoS Economic Research Center. “We find that the traditional role model
of a mother – staying at home to care for her children – is by far the most important factor for
employment decisions. In the west, this traditional belief is still widely held – limiting the effects of
policies designed for better combining work and family life.”
The findings suggest that higher wages partly compensate working mothers in the western states for
disregarding the traditional role model. The researchers caution, that any policies reducing this
compensation could have amplified negative effects on female employment.
Maternal labor market participation in the east and west
Overall, the female employment rate has increased since reunification and converged to around 75
percent in both regions, according to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. However, different
work-time models of mothers continue to characterize the two regions. The current study shows: In
the west, the proportion of mothers with children under the age of twelve who worked full-time
was only about half that in the east.
The eastern states inherited a culture of full-time working mothers, which is reflected in the figures,
although the share declined by about 13 percentage points between the year 2000 and 2017. In both
regions, women often work part-time after giving birth. German governments have aimed to raise the
number of hours worked by women. However, the researchers suggest that policies, such as parental
allowances or childcare subsidies, should be complemented by additional measures helping couples to
share parenting duties more equally.
“One proposal would be to extend existing paternity leave and provide better pay for it,” says Zainab
Iftikhar. “Generally speaking, it is difficult to change social norms. As long as traditional beliefs about
the roles of fathers and mothers persist, they can limit the effectiveness of economic policy tools.”