Family policy reforms, such as expanding childcare, can influence the labour market participation of mothers by making it easier to return to work after parental leave. In 2008, a reform on early childhood education and care (ECEC) was introduced in Germany to expand access to childcare. Prior to the reform, the labour market participation of East and West German mothers after childbirth was quite different.
For example, East German mothers were more likely to return to full-time work earlier, benefiting from a long-standing cultural acceptance of maternal employment and more established public childcare provision. In contrast, West German mothers experienced longer maternity leaves and higher rates of part-time work or labour market inactivity post-birth. The differences in employment biographies of mothers in East and West Germany were stark, with significant differences in the length of parental leave and the timing of return to work.
What changed with the 2008 reform? To answer this question, Sophia Fauser (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Emanuela Struffolino (University of Milan) and Asaf Levanon (University of Haifa) used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. This household survey follows participants over time, to examine East-West differences in the employment biographies of first-time mothers. They have compared pre- (1990-2007) and post-reform (2008-2021) mothers in East and West Germany to explore similarities and differences in the timing, order, and duration of full-time or part-time work, inactivity, and maternity leave along employment biographies around childbirth.
Results indicate that regional differences persist despite some increase in similarity between East and West employment biographies. The increase in similarities is driven particularly by East German mothers returning to work after childbirth more often in part-time versus full-time arrangements, and by West German mothers returning in part-time arrangements versus staying inactive.
They have also found stable trends over time: East German mothers continue to return to full-time employment sooner than their West German counterparts, while West German mothers still show a higher prevalence of longer maternity leave periods after the reform, and of long-term part-time employment when returning to work.
This only partial increase in similarity might actually reflect the fact that the availability of childcare and its quality is still inadequate in many areas, and that East German regions still have a higher proportion of children in childcare facilities. This may also be due to the prevalence of traditional gender role norms, independent of changes in childcare availability itself: even where childcare is available, West German mothers and fathers may still prefer that one of them (usually the mother) stays at home to look after the children.
The study highlights how mothers' life chances and employment biographies are strongly influenced by regional and political contexts, despite policies intended to benefit the entire population. This applies especially where traditional gender norms or other policies, such as joint taxation that discourages a second earner in the household, persist.