Why did distinct types of dual-earner models in Czech, Slovak and East German societies1 develop and persist?

Abstract

We examine pre-1989 and post-1989 work-care models in Czech, Slovak and East German societies. Inspired by the institutionalist approach, we develop a framework that allows to analyze how, when and why two distinct work-care models evolved and persisted in the region. Once problems of the modernized gender model emerged, Czechoslovak and East German governments set the two countries on two distinct work-care policy paths. Consequently, fundamental differences in work-care practices and work-care related values and norms emerged between the two countries. Based on an examination of the institutional and cultural legacy, we explain why the transition from totalitarian to democratic regimes was accompanied by continuity in work-care models rather than radical departures from the previous models. In contrast to traditional institutionalist studies we point out that more recent institutional changes in the sphere of work-care policies in Czech, Slovak and East German societies did not occur as a consequence of the 1989 revolutionary period, but rather evolved in a period of relative stability.
 Zusammenfassung
 Wir untersuchen Arrangements der Aufteilung von Erwerbsarbeit und Kinderbetreuung in Tschechien, der Slowakei und Ostdeutschland, vor und nach 1989. Basierend auf dem institutionalistischen Ansatz untersuchen wir, wie, wann und weshalb sich zwei unterschiedliche Arrangements in dieser Region entwickelt und durchgesetzt haben. Als die Konflikte des modernisierten Gender-Modells offenkundig wurden, schlugen die politischen Entscheidungsträger in der Tschechoslowakei und der DDR verschiedene Pfade ein, um Erwerbsarbeit und Kinderbetreuung in Einklang zu bringen. Infolgedessen entstanden zwischen den Ländern grundlegende Unterschiede in der Kombination von Erwerbsarbeit und Kinderbetreuung und in den damit verbundenen Werten und Normen. Wir erklären ausgehend von der Analyse des institutionellen und kulturellen Erbes dieser Länder, weshalb der Übergang von einem totalitären zu einem demokratischen Gesellschaftstypus mit einem hohen Maß an Kontinuität in den Arrangements der Kombination von Erwerbsarbeit und Kinderbetreuung einherging. Ein zentrales Ergebnis unserer Untersuchung ist, dass neuere Änderungen der institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen der Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie in Tschechien, der Slowakei und in Ostdeutschland nicht auf die massiven Umwälzungen im Zuge des Mauerfalles zurückgehen, sondern in einer Phase relativer Stabilität stattfanden.

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