A Long‐Standing Demographic East–West Divide in Germany

Abstract

Over the last 25 years, a large number of studies have looked at the demographic differences between the previously divided eastern and western parts of Germany. The two regions have

The low importance of marriage in eastern Germany - social norms and the role of peoples’ perceptions of the past

“…As suggested by Klüsener and Goldstein (2014), these liberal attitudes seem to reflect socio-structural factors and laws that date back as far as the 18 th century, when Prussian civil law supported lone mothers. GDR legislation sustained this tradition and our respondents continue to hold liberal attitudes.…”

On the normative foundations of marriage and cohabitation: Results from group discussions in eastern and western Germany

“…This gap is remarkable, because although the two parts of Germany had separate economic and political systems between 1945 and 1990, the eastern and western regions of the country have been subject to the same legal framework since 1990. Thus, it appears that factors other than the legal framework are affecting the nonmarital birth rate, particularly differences in values and norms regarding marriage and family formation (Bernardi, Klärner, andvon der Lippe 2008, Arránz Becker, Lois, andNauck 2010;Klärner and Keim 2011;Klüsener and Goldstein 2014).…”

Estimating male fertility in eastern and western Germany since 1991: A new lowest low?

“…Figure 1 shows the trends in the overall proportion, while Figure The proportion of missing values is high particularly for young ages, while it is much lower at ages with high fertility rates. The difference between western and eastern Germany is related to the higher proportion of nonmarital births in eastern Germany (Klüsener and Goldstein 2016). We use adjusted population estimates developed by as part of the Human Mortality Database project (see supplementary materials for details) as population exposures for the calculation of fertility rates.…”