Women's Preferences or Delineated Policies?
was the norm. Due to these differences, West Germany tends to have a lower female labour force
participation rate. In East Germany, the activity rate for women is 14 percentage points higher, and
this difference increases to 18 percentage points when married women are taken into account
(Garhammer, 2000). However, while the level of labour market participation is higher in East
Germany, these levels have been decreasing since reunification in 1990, whereas the level of West
German women entering and staying in the labour market continues to rise. This variation is also
reflected in annual average working hours per person. Annual average working hours for both sexes
have declined in the last twelve years in both East and West Germany, but annual average working
hours continue to decline at a faster rate in East Germany than in West Germany (OECD, 2003)4.
However, while Western Germany had a higher average of annual working hours at the time of
reunification, the Western Bundeslander have since maintained lower annual average working hours
over the last five years in comparison to Eastern Germany (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Annual Average Working Hours per Person: Germany 1990-2003
Source: OECD, 2004.
Whether the differences in annual average working hours between the old and the new German
states will dissipate over the next few years remains to be seen. Figures from EIRO suggest that
average annual working hours are declining at similar rates in both parts of the country. The
dramatic decline in annual average working hours per person in West Germany in the early 1990s
reflects reduced contractual working hours for full-time employees. In the east, unions pressed in
the same direction, but with considerable less success.
4 Figures reflect annual average hours worked per person, both sexes. Figures on average annual hours worked in Eastern Germany
calculated by the authors, based on OECD figures for unified and Western Germany.
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AIAS - UvA