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Women's lives and social policy in east Germany and the United States
JOAN LEVIN ECKLEIN and JANET ZOLLINGER GIELE
Women's Lives and Social Policy in East Germany and the United States*
During the last decade the study of social policy has become a new and flourishing science in Western countries. Momentous changes in women's roles have at the same time made social policy a promising vehicle for the realization of sex equality. Yet there are few comparative studies that show either the different substantive alternatives or how social policies actually affect women's lives under different circumstances (see, however, Giele and Smock, 1977; Blumberg, 1976; Ecldein, forthcoming; and Kamerman and Kahn, 1978). Our purpose here is to suggest some of the questions and puzzles that arise in a comparison of women and social policy in two advanced industrial societies--one socialist (G.D.R.) and the other capitalist (U.S.A.). Our data are varied, drawn from a combination of personal experience, official documents, and numerous research studies. These materials are here arranged in such fashion as to suggest parallel as well as different trends in the status of women in the two countries. *An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Ninth World Congress of Sociology, Uppsala, Sweden, August 1978. Joan Levin Ecklein wishes to acknowledge the generous help of Kurt Olivier of the German General News Service in updating statistics on the G.D.R. STUDIKqINCOMPARATIVECOMMUNISM
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The ensuing analysis is organized in two major parts; the first compares the two countries in broad demographic, economic, and ideological terms to suggest reasons for the similarities and differences that shape their social policies toward women. The second part contrasts the social policies of the two countries in three dimensions-education, employment, and family life. Finally, in our conclusion we reflect two alternative interpretations of the evidence. One of us (Ecklein) is more inclined to notice differences between the countries that stem from the Communist or capitalist emphasis. The other (Giele) believes that parallel trends in the two countries are attributable to advanced structural differentiation in both economies. Rather than minimize these differences, we have allowed our conclusion to reflect them and thus suggest key questions for future research. (It should also be noted that Giele wrote the section on the U.S.A. and Ecklein the section on the G.D.R.)
Characteristics of the Two Countries There are a variety of socialist and capitalist countries of which the German Democratic Republic and the United States are merely two examples. Depending on history, political and cultural tradition, and level of industrial advancement there may be greater or lesser differences in the social policies of different countries. For example, the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany share certain traditions of social policy toward the family that stem from reforms won by the working class during the preFascist period. On the other hand, the G.D.R. and the United States are similar with respect to their advanced industrial status, but different in important global characteristics. The aspects described here are the demographic, economic, and ideological features that are particularly salient to the status of women.
German Democratic Republic During the last thirty years the G.D.R. has travelled the path from an economically devastated, defeated Fascist state to an advanced socialist society. Economy. As of 1975, 95.8 percent of all enterprises were nationally owned. Agriculture has been all but completely collectivized. There is now overall national planning by the state in all sectors. The economy is developing very swiftly. The volume of industrial output was 1,625,000 marks for the five years 1976-1980. This was 32.2 percent more than 1971-1975. (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980.) In addition, the G D R is one of the top ten industrial countries in the world.
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By law everyone is guaranteed a job. There is no unemployment. While prices have remained stable or gone down, the average income of workers has steadily risen. The average monthly income per household for working people was 755M in 1970, 889M in 1975, and 1030M in 1980. (GDR Facts and Figures 1980: 41; Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980.) These figures do not include the "hidden pay packet"--the things that are heavily subsidized or free, such as food, rent, transportation, childcare, and education. It is estimated that each family now receives an extra 760M monthly through these subsidies. This means that when income is added to subsidies, the annual per capita income has gone from 7,680M in 1975 to 9,500M in 1980. It is planned to increase these subsidies to 900M monthly in 1985. There is still a severe housing shortage but current plans envisage its alleviation by 1990. As a result of the high rate of industrial development, including automation, labor productivity has vastly increased. This has led to a reduction in working hours for the entire population with no loss in pay, from a 48-hour week to a 43-3/4 hour, five-day week. For mothers of two children, young people, and shift workers, there is now a 40-hour week. Planners look forward to further decreases in working hours for the entire population with no loss in pay as production becomes more fully automated. Demography. As a result of heavy losses of life during World War II and emigration during the 1950s there is a distinct imbalance in the sex ratio. The female/male ratio is 117/100. This is especially marked among the women forty years old and older. In this category there are 4.4 million women to 2.8 million men. Under age forty there are slightly more men than women. Presently there is a marked labor shortage. Current plans envision its alleviation by 1987 (Slepack, 1976: 52-54). The birth rate in the G.D.R. was one of the lowest in Eastern Europe with 10.8 births per 1000 population (Statistical Pocket Book of the GDR, 1976). The government is seeking to reverse this trend. As a result of new social policies allowing women with a second child to have a year off with pay, the birth rate was up to 13.3 per thousand population in 1977, one full year after the new policy was instituted (Lentz, 1978). By 1980 it had risen to 14.7 per thousand population (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Ideology. The socialist government is firmly committed to the full emancipation of women. It argues that only under socialist conditions will it be possible to overcome the legacy of oppression of both men and women that is the inheritance of capitalism. The question is not alone one of women liberating themselves from the domina-
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tion of men, but also of the liberation of both men and women from the exploitation experienced in a class society. It is explicitly recognized that under capitalism women were doubly exploited. Liberation from this double exploitation is not regarded as an automatic process but one to be vigorously pursued and systematically reviewed so that the myriad legacies of women's oppression can be eliminated on a step by step basis. It is further stated that societal progress is measured by the emancipation of women, and that women's economic activity is essential to that progress. Working outside the home is seen as necessary for the development of the women's potential as well as that of society. Moreover--and this is of critical importance--the combination of work and family roles is not felt to be the responsibility of the individual woman but of the entire society. The "double burden" currently experienced by G.D.R. women is viewed as a temporary phenomenon, one of the remainders of a capitalist past that has to be systematically overcome.
The United States In contrast with Germany after the Second World War, the United States did not suffer a large population loss, a devastated economy, or a major military and ideological defeat. Instead, until recently, the predominant themes in America have been population growth, economic boom, and general reinforcement of the liberal capitalist tradition with its twin concerns for individualism and equality. Economic Context. As is well known, the United States is a rich country with a very high median family income; $19,684 in 1979, almost twice the 1950 amount of $10,008 (in 1979 constant dollars). The average weekly hours needed to produce such income declined from 42 in 1950 to 39.0 in 1979. At the same time the number of jobs increased faster than the population. Nonetheless, the unemployment rate hovered between 4 and 8 percent between 1947 and 1976. Large numbers of persons never before employed (principally women) were entering the labor force, increasing their proportion in the labor force from 28 percent after World War II to 42 percent in 1980. While (as in other industrial nations) male labor force participation rates have declined slightly (from 83 percent in 1960 to 78 percent in 1979), the female rate has steadily risen (from 38 percent m 1960 to 50 percent in 1979) (Social Indicators, III, 361; 385; Statistical Abstract o f the United States: 1980: 451, 394). Accompanying these many signs of success, however, is an emerging critique of the growth economy with its negative, side effects
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such as high energy use, pollution, and dual labor market. Advocates of change are searching for more localized forms of agriculture and industry that are less monopolistic and less resource-hungry, and less likely to split the labor force into a primary sector with secure jobs and a secondary sector (made up largely of women and blacks) with more marginal jobs and benefits (Giele, 1978, Ch. 3). Demographic Changes. Until recently, the major demographic issues in America have concerned stabilization of population growth. Following World War II the birth rate rose steadily until 1958 when fertility was 50 percent greater than it had been in 1940. Since 1958, however, fertility has gradually fallen so that by 1978 the birth rate stood at 15.3 per thousand persons and the total fertility rate was 1.8 children per woman, just half the comparable figure for 1957. Unlike Germany, the sex ratio is not imbalanced except in the oldest age groups where women outlive men by several years. Life expectancy of girls born today is 78 years (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1980: 61-62, 73). This combination of declining fertility and increasing longevity has had significant impact on the typical life cycle of women. With their childbearing virtually complete at the age of thirty, and fifty more years yet to live, an increasing number of women realize that their adult life cannot be fully occupied with family affairs. Moreover, at least a third of present marriages are expected to end in divorce. The result is a growing acceptance of many different role options for women: some that will continue the traditional familybased role, others that will follow a dual career pattern, of combining employment and family responsibility, and still others that will vary the pattern over the life course. American Sex-role Ideology. Because the American political system is pluralistic, and guidelines for realization of equality are not set by central planning, women seeking equal rights have had to wage a campaign to change public opinion in favor of such changes as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The feminist movement has grown noticeably since the mid-1960s when groups such as the National Organization of Women were founded, and certain key laws (such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting sex discrimination) were instituted. Now principal issues center around such rights as abortion (particularly for poor women who must rely on government medical aid), Social Security protection for displaced homemakers, and the father's as well as the mother's obligation to support the children of a divorce. Opponents of the ERA seem primarily concerned that the Amendment will result in women's loss of privileges and protections associated with
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traditional division of labor between the sexes, such as exemption from military service.
Social Policies and Women's Lives It appears that these overarching characteristics of the G.D.R. and the U.S.A. give rise to social policies with similar as well as different features. Similarities appear in the rising educational attainment and employment of women. Differences appear in the speed and extent of such change. Our comparison of the two countries is based on specific social policies in each of three domains--education, employment, and family life--and actual indicators of women's changing status in these fields.
Education G.D.R. Education is completely free for everyone in the G.D.R. Almost all college and technical school students receive a stipend or grant. All young persons receive complete vocational training as part of their education. There is today virtually no difference between the education men and women receive. In 1979, 48.2 percent of all college students were women and 71 percent of all technical school students were women (GDR Facts and Figures, 1980:48). "The proportion of women studying technological or natural science subjects has risen over the past few years from 46.1 to 61.7 percent" ( Women and Socialism, 1976: 26). The change since presocialist times is extreme. During the Fascist period almost no women were even allowed to receive a higher education and practically all the education of women has occurred since 1945. Thus, "In 1971 out of every 100 women the following number had acquired their respective education level after 1945: college graduates 92 percent, technical school graduates 90 percent, supervisors 79 percent, skilled workers 74 percent" (Women in the GDR: Facts and Figures, 1975: 33). Accordingly, the younger the women, the more education they have and the more similar they are in education to men of their age group. This can have an important impact on the future status of women in the G.D.R. Adult education for the entire population is very extensive. Every year 300,000 to 400,000 working women take part in various courses to complete and finish their education ( Women in GDR: Facts and Figures, 1975: 35). Every encouragement is given to women to further their education. There are various social policies designed to give women education and training without interfering with their role as mothers and homemakers. Some of these social policies are a direct
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result of an extensive sociological study, conducted by the Academy of Science, that sought to determine how to motivate unskilled women workers to become skilled workers. (The following provisions apply to all working women.) Women are given released time from work to study with no loss in pay. The amount of released time depends on the type of course. For example, firms may organize a full-time course in which case a woman may be given up to sixty days with no loss in pay. If she attends a course outside her firm she may be given two or three days a week off from her firm. "At full-time courses especially adapted for women, they are given 190M per month as a grant plus 80 percent of their net average wage" (Women and Socialism, 1976: 30). Among the other special provisions for women are the following: tutors to help them with any problems they may have, both intellectual and personal; assurance that they can finish the course if they have to interrupt it because of illness, illness of a child, or pregnancy; a written agreement with their firms specifying the job they will return to after the course is completed (Women in the GDR, 1975: 35; Women and Socialism, 1976: 30). There are also various provisions to encourage older women to take additional job training. Since 1973 women over thirty-five do not have to take a written examination if they have worked three years on the job for which they are qualified (Women and Socialism, 1976: 31). Partly as a result of these special provisions, 65 percent more women received skilled workers' certificates in 1974 than in 1972. It should also be noted that the course of study to train skilled workers consists not only of skills training but of courses in Marxism-Leninism, the socialist economy, and the place of that enterprise in the economy. U.S.A. American education by contrast is based on a mixed system of public and private sponsorship with the private sector particularly significant in higher education. The United States has long been committed to equality of educational opportunity, and spends five percent of its Gross National Product on education. In 1970 over 80 percent of the population from ages fifteen to eighteen were in school full-time, and over 35 percent of the population of ages nineteen and twenty. These conditions have generally served women well, as is shown in their educational attainment at the high school and college levels. In 1973-74, 76 percent of females graduated from high school as compared with 72 percent of the males. In 1978 the number of bachelor's and master's degrees conferred on women (50 percent in 1978) equaled the proportion earned by men. Women, however, earned only 27 percent of the doctorates in all fields taken together (Social Indicators, 1976:281, 291, 304; Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1980: 175).
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Several new developments promise eventual improvement of this record. One is the burgeoning development of adult education in which 51 percent of the participants are women and 49 percent men. (Women's education appears to be less often vocationally oriented than men's however; in 1972, 70 percent of the men enrolled in adult education were in occupational training programs as compared with only 45 percent of women (Social Indicators, 1976:310-311). In addition great efforts are being made to encourage women in mathematical and scientific training. At the same time the growth of women's studies has introduced new content from literature and history into the curriculum that teaches the high value of women's contribution to society. The women's movement has been a chief factor in the drive for greater equality of women in the educational system. Feminist efforts are buttressed by two Executive Orders that bar discrimination against women in promotion and pay in institutions of higher education, and by the Higher Education Act of 1972 that extends legal recourse against discrimination to issues of curriculum, admissions criteria, financial assistance and other aspects of the educational program. The Women's Educational Equity Act of 1974 calls for positive educational efforts on behalf of women such as improved curricula, and counseling, resource centers, and community education programs. But so far, progress seems slow on such matters as raising the number of women in top professorships at the university level.
Employment G.D.R. As of 1980, 87 percent of all G.D.R. women capable of working (between ages 15 to 65) were employed. The number of women in paid work has doubled since 1949. Women are not working out of absolute necessity. It is perfectly possible to have a good standard of living with one member of the family employed. Equal pay for equal work has been a reality since 1946 when the Soviet occupying forces issued such an edict. The law is strictly enforced, and the issue of equal pay is today considered a concern of the past. Women work in all branches of industry but are highly concentrated in certain branches. While only 15 percent of the building industry is composed of women and 27 percent of the transport industry are women, 71 percent of those employed in education and culture, and 85 percent of those employed in commerce are women. Within the industrial sector women are concentrated in the textile industry where they comprise 71 percent of its labor force and 62 percent in light industry.
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While no statistics are available, it is likely that the average income for women is lower than that of men. This stems from two factors. Large numbers of women are still in traditional femaletyped occupations that world-wide have not been so well remunerated as other occupations. Furthermore, safety regulations for women are very detailed and strictly enforced. Women are not allowed for health reasons to work in certain areas of heavy industry, construction, and mining that are very highly paid. There is now a considerable shift underway in women's occupations due to several factors. First, there has been a concerted effort to move women from unskilled to skilled job classifications. A rapid shift occurred. In 1971, 51.85 percent of the female work force were unskilled and by 1975 only 42.8 percent were unskilled. As of 1980, 70 percent of all working women have completed vocational training (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Second, women are moving into fields traditionally dominated by men. While only 27 percent of the people now employed in the buildings material industry are women, 51.9 percent of the students newly admitted in 1974 to technical schools to study building material technology were women (Women in the GDR, 1975: 43). In 1974, 81.7 percent of the new apprentices in data processing were women and 69 percent of the chemical engineering and 60 percent of the electrical engineering apprentices were women (Women and Socialism, 1976: 25). As of 1980, 40 percent of all apprentices in training for technical occupations are girls. The effect of these shifts is that in some of the new areas women outnumber men. Women have also gained a strong foothold in high prestige occupations such as medicine (46 percent), law (30 percent), and high public office (31 percent) (Slepack, 1976: 56). A third shift is in the occupational structure itself. In 1949 over 50 percent of the working women had been employed in agriculture; today this figure is down to 10 percent; the number of women in commerce has doubled since 1949. Throughout the trade unions there are what American women would call affirmative action programs that are very extensive and strictly enforced. Within each trade union branch committee is a woman's commission made up of women members elected every two years. The women's commissions shape the content and application of women's promotion plans that are part of the agreement signed each year between the management of an enterprise and the trade union committee. The manager and the trade union committee of a firm are answerable to the women for carrying out the terms of this agreement. These promotion plans stipulate the increased participation by women in management and planning, further edu-
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cation for women and the improvement within the enterprise of working and living conditions for women. U.S.A. One of the most striking characteristics of American women's employment since the Second World War is the dramatic rise in their labor force participation. In 1940 only 15 percent of married women over thirty-five years of age were in the labor force. The comparable figure had grown to 37 percent by 1960. Labor shortages during the interim in certain "female-typed" occupations such as teaching and clerical work had broken down traditional rules against employment of older married women. Between 1950 and 1976 the labor force participation rate of women sixteen years of age and older grew from 33 percent to 47 percent (Oppenheimer, 1970: 20; Social Indicators, 1976: 372). Among women aged between forty-five and fifty-nine the rate was 45 percent in 1955. It is expected to be 58 percent in 1980 and well over 60 percent in the 1990s (Social Indicators, 1976: 366). Despite the remarkable change in participation rates, however, women are narrowly concentrated in a few occupations. Fully 35 percent of all employed women were in clerical work in 1978 and a large proportion were in three occupations: teacher, secretary, and nurse. While the proportion of women who were professionals and managers (22 percent) compared favorably with the ratio for men (29 percent), only 2 percent of employed women could be found in the remunerative skilled blue collar occupations of craftsman and foreman, as compared with 20 percent of men. Yet twice as large a proportion of women were employed as service workers (Social Indicators, 1976: 377; Social Indicators III, 1980: 355). These proportions are apparently related to the much lower average pay that women receive (roughly 60 percent of men's). It is now believed that this pay differential is not caused so much by failure to enforce the equal pay laws as by subtle channeling of women and men into different sex-labeled occupations (Giele, 1978: 101). Nevertheless there have been some dramatic changes recently in the representation of women in certain male-dominated professions. Although in 1971 women lawyers were only 3 percent of the profession, they constituted I0 percent of the entering class (twice as many as in 1967) and probably today make up at least 20 to 30 percent of the student body in most law schools. Another example is the number of women in political office: between 1969 and 1975, the number of women state legislators doubled from 305 to 610 and in 1979 had reached 770 (still representing, however, only 9 percent of the total) (Giele, 1978: 247, 57; Statistical Abstract of the United States:
1980:515).
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Important remedies for employment inequality are embodied in such laws as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 barring discrimination on the basis of sex, and the Higher Education Acts of the 1970s. Increasingly, however, it is recognized that many subtle factors of socialization and motivation are involved in a woman's choice of occupation. In addition, structural factors on the job may block women's access to training and promotion, not because of any overt discrimination but because of the design of the job itself. A new concept, embodied in the phrase "equal pay for work of equal value," represents a more fundamental effort to bring about occupational equality for men and women through a reorganization of industrial institutions and concepts (Giele, 1978, Ch. 3; Ratner, 1980).
Family Life and Women's Roles G.D.R. The constitution and the labor code both explicitly stipulate that the state must create the institutions and the conditions whereby a woman can combine a full professional life with that of wife and mother. Accordingly 92 percent of all children between the ages of three and six are eared for in state-supported kindergartens. Over 60 percent of the children between six months and three years are in state-supported nurseries (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Almost all school age children up to age ten are eared for in after-school centers. These figures have steadily increased over the years. For example, in 1975 only 51 percent of all babies were in nurseries. Women receive one household day (a free day) a month with pay. Mothers with two or more children work a 40-hour week instead of a 44-hour week, and mothers also receive longer vacation periods. These provisions and others similar to them have grown in number over the years. The G.D.R. constitution states "Marriage and the family are the foundation of community life" (Allendorf, 1975: 99). Accordingly there are various provisions to strengthen marriage and get it off to a good start. Newly married couples are given an interest-free loan of 5000 Marks which can be paid back over an eight-year period. If the couple has children during that time, part of the loan is erased for each successive child. Even with such supports the divorce rate is rising sharply. The 1955 figure of 25,736 divorces rose to 27,486 in 1964, and 41,620 in 1975. In part the rise in divorce may be due to social policies that allow women economic independence from men. No woman need now be financially dependent on a man, and the majority of requests for divorce are made by women. With the birth of each child couples are paid 1000 Marks and a
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monthly stipend is also allotted for each child. There are many special supports for women living alone with children. For example, single parents who have to stop work because there is no room in kindergartens or nurseries for their children can receive monthly insurance payments equivalent to what they would receive as sickhess benefits. Various social policies concern childbearing. Women receive complete maternity care free of charge. There are changes in job assignments during pregnancy with no loss in pay during the time a woman is carrying a child and for a considerable time after the child is born. The infant mortality rate went down from 18.5 per thousand live births in 1970 to 12.1 per thousand live births in 1980. Similarly maternal mortality was lowered from 2.2 per thousand births in 1975 to 1.68 per thousand births in 1980. Since 1972 women can interrupt their pregnancies through abortion up to the 12th week of gestation in state-supported facilities. They receive regular sick leave at this time. From the age of sixteen on, they have access to various means of birth control at no cost (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Women receive a 26-week pregnancy and 20-week postnatal leave during which time they receive their net average earnings. With the second and subsequent child women receive 65 percent of their wages from the end of their postnatal leave until the child's first birthday. The paid year after the birth of the second child went into effect in 1976. If after the first baby, a mother wishes, she may take a full year off and have her job remain open for her. If she cannot find a place in a nursery she can take off until the child's third birthday. The number of labor-saving devices has increased steadily. Whereas only 26 percent of all households in 1965 had a refrigerator, 85 percent had one in 1975. Similarly only 28 percent of all households had a washing machine in 1965, compared with'73 percent in 1975 (Einheit, July/August 1978: 848). U.S.A. Certain aspects of family life in America have remained fairly constant from 1950 to 1975. For example, the proportion married of both sexes stood at about two-thirds throughout the period. The average family size of 3.5 was fairly stable from 1950 to 1970. Remarkable changes occurred, however, with respect to divorce and family composition. The divorce rate doubled, from 16 divorces per thousand women aged fourteen to forty-four in 1950, to 37 per thousand in 1977. The number of female-headed families rose from 9 percent in 1950 to nearly 15 percent in 1978, and the number of children under eighteen living with mother only grew from 8 percent in 1960 to 17 percent in 1978. There was also a surge in the
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number of single-person households, particularly among women over sixty-five of whom 24 percent were primary individuals living alone in 1950 as compared with 41 percent in 1978 (Social Indicators 1976: 62-67; Social Indicators 111, 1980: 46-51). Changes in family composition and the rise in divorce have raised concern for women's well-being and ways that social programs and policies can be designed to strengthen the family. New responses to these issues are evident in two ways: (I) growth of services such as family planning and day care; and (2) new policy initiatives to improve family well-being and women's security. Services such as family planning and access to abortion were given tremendous impetus by two Supreme Court decisions in 1973 that struck down state prohibitions. (Since then, however, there have been efforts, so far unsuccessful, to nullify the change through Congressional action, and some state legislatures have actually barred use of Medicaid funds to poor women for abortions.) Day care has burgeoned since 1961 when there were only 141,000 children in care and only 4,000 child care centers. By 1970 the number of children had grown to 625,000 and the number of centers had quadrupled. Twice as many children were in nursery schools and kindergartens in the second half of the 1960s as in the first half (Giele, 1977: 327). By 1978 the enrollment in nursery schools was 1.8 million, nearly triple the 1965 figure (Social Indicators III, 1980: 293). Recently after-school programs have been instituted in some city schools. Policy initiatives on behalf of women include efforts to make parental leaves and allowances more widely available, to institute flextime and more part-time opportunities, and to give credit for women's contributions as homemakers under the Social Security system (Giele and Kahne, 1978). Some corporations already provide maternity leave and the right to use disability insurance to cover maternity costs; however, change is uneven. Similarly part-time work has increased and between 1948 and 1976 the proportion of women who worked part time increased from 20 percent to 34 percent. In the early 1970s some firms and government agencies began to experiment with flextime but as yet the plans cover only about 750,000 workers (Giele and Kahne, 1978). Experiments with crediting women's household work under the Social Security system have yet to be instituted, but a number of plans are now being considered by a special task force in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The two principal alternatives being considered rely either on noncontributory credits for the homemaker or on earningssplitting based on the joint income tax record of a couple. Propo-
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nents of these plans believe that such an arrangement would recognize the marriage as an equal partnership and improve the earnings record on which women's retirement security is based (U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). Conchtsion
In sum, in many ways it appears that although the United States is richer, a socialist country such as the German Democratic Republic is marking a path toward social supports for easing women's participation in the labor force that is the envy of many women in the nonsocialist world. While many American mothers of young children long for a dependable child care system, women in East Germany already have such programs in place. So it is with many other new programs--paid maternity leave, opportunities for continuing education, and so on. G.D.R. women, however, would probably like to enjoy the level of affluence accessible to upper middle class American women. From a sociological point of view what more general interpretations can be given these observations? Ecklein concludes that there are some similarities between the changing conditions of American women and G.D.R. women. Women in both countries are entering the labor force in increasing numbers. They are found in more diversified occupations. They are eager to combine a family with labor market participation. In Ecklein's opinion, however, the differences are more striking than the similarities. In the G.D.R. the whole society is geared to change in a systematic way. Because of its socialist economy with state ownership of production and centralized planning as well as a consistent pro-emancipation ideology, the G.D.R. has been able to institute social policies such as universal state-supported child care, household days, and paid education and maternity leave. In contrast, in the United States with its private ownership of production and individualist ideology, no such concerted effort is possible in such a short time. In addition, the combination of economic, ideological and demographic factors in the G.D.R. has resulted not only in a full employment policy but in the rapid institution of programs to help women combine employment and family. In contrast, the United States for the same reasons has no full employment policy and has few official programs to help women combine employment and family life. In considering future trends in the G.D.R. there is reason to expect that the role of women will continue to develop in the direction it has taken during the last 30 years. Women will continue to
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move into more diverse occupations, some of which are now dominated by men. This process may accelerate in the future because the gap between men's and women's education is closing and industry is rapidly automating. The development of a unified woman's role combining labor-market participation with a family may also change as a result of increased emphasis on changing men's roles. It is quite likely that in the future both men and women will have the option of a household day, baby year, and a shorter work week. Already men who have custody of their children or an ill wife have the same special consideration as mothers. In the United States, the newly articulated desire of American women to combine a family with employment and to have such publicly supported services as day care is quite strong and is likely to become even stronger in the future. American women will be able to win some of the social supports already obtained by G.D.R. women through the women's movement. These will differ, however, in four critical respects. American women will not be able to obtain as large a scope of publicly supported services and supports as G.D.R. women have. Neither can they achieve them as rapidly as G.D.R. women have done. Further, services gained are not likely to be so evenly spread throughout the population that poorer women can benefit most from them. Finally, there is likely to be significant unevenness in the rate of progress due to cycles in the American economy. Giele, on the other hand, emphasizes underlying similarities in the two countries that are due to advanced technology and a highly differentiated industrial economy. Despite overriding ideological and political differences between the two countries, Giele finds the shape of certain trends similar. For example, in both countries there is a rising divorce rate, lower fertility, greater longevity, and many more role options for women than in a traditional agricultural economy. More women are in the labor force, both in East Germany and in America. This is true even for mothers with young children. Such changes are accompanied by a widespread desire on the part of families for child care outside the home and for flexible work schedules that will facilitate women's "two roles." The interesting question to Giele is how, when political structure is so different, can such similar trends appear? Giele's explanation focuses on the structural similarities in the division of labor in the two societies. Both the G.D.R. and the United States are complex industrial societies. Jobs consist of specialized interchangeable tasks that facilitate greater crossover between all types of ascribed roles (male/female, old/young, etc.). As a result the predominant in-built
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tendencies of such modern societies are to compensate for lack of knowledge or capacity associated with traditional roles by substituting specialized personnel who can do the task instead (witness the child care done by specialists in the day care center, or the cooking that is done outside the home or through convenience foods). At the same time new social programs and policies are instituted that facilitate the movement of women out of ascribed roles through such mechanisms as flexible hours, continuing education, etc. The result, whether the society is socialist or not, is greater interchangeability of capacities and occupations that once had been segregated between the roles of women and men (Giele, 1971, 1980). In such a brief space it is only possible to suggest the key issues for comparison of women's status in socialist and nonsocialist societies. We have pointed out some of the essential differences and similarities. Ecklein has shown how ideological positions and form of government may explain the differences in extent and speed of change in women's roles. Giele has pointed to similar efforts to change ascribed roles that may be attributable to such factors as the technological advancement and occupational specialization that are common to all industrial societies. Yet our explorations in the comparative sociology of women's lives and social policy have merely begun. Not only are there further historical, cultural, and economic variations to be taken into account; in addition there are complex questions of data comparability: How is one to define poverty, or even such a seemingly straightforward statistic as women's labor force participation? (See for example, Boulding, et al., 1977.) How the statistics are constructed will inevitably shape the conclusions. We do not claim to have solved all these problems. But we do hope that the research we have begun will contribute to the common goals of women in every country for the fullest realization of their innate potential. The question that now stands before us is how such goals can best be realized in various societies located in quite different settings.
REFERENCES Allendorf, Marlis. 1975. Women in Socialist Society. New York: International Publishers. Blumberg, Rae Lesser. 1976. "Kibbutz Women: From the Fields of Revolution . . ." In Women in the World. Ed. by L. B. Iglitzin and R. Ross. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. Boulding, Elise, et al. 1977. Handbook of International Data on Women. Boulder, Colo.: Westview.
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Ecklein, Joan, Forthcoming. "Women in the German Democratic Republic: Impact of Culture and Social Policy." In Women in the Middle Years: Current Knowledge and Directionsfor Research and Policy. Ed. by J.Z. Giele` New York: Wiley. Einheit. 1978. July/August. GDR Facts and Figures. 1980. Berlin: Panorama. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1971. "Changes in the Modern Family: Their Impact on Sex Roles." American Journal o f Orthopsychiatry 41 (October), pp. 757-766. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1977. "United States: A Prolonged Search for Equal Rights." In Women: Roles andStatus in Eight Countries. Ed. by J. Z. Giele and A. C. Smock. New York: Wiley. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1978. Women and the Future: Changing Sex Roles in Modern America. New York: Free Press. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1980. "Crossovers: New Themes in Adult Roles and the Life Cycle." In Women's Lives: New Theory, Research and Policy. Ed. by D. G. McGuigan. Ann Arbor. University of Michigan, Center for Continuing Education of Women. Giele, Janet Zollinger, and Hilda Kahne. 1978. "Meeting Work and Family Responsibilities: Proposals for Flexibility." In Women in Mid-Life--Security and Fulfillment (Part I). Ed. by A.F. Cahn, U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging. 95th Congress, Second Session. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. Giele, Janet Zollinger, and Audrey Chapman Smock. 1977. Women: Roles and Status in Eight Countries. New York: Wiley. Glick, Paul C. 1975. "A Demographer Looks at American Families." Journal o f Marriage and the Family, 37 (February), pp. 15-26. Kamerman, Sheila B., and Alfred Kahn. 1978. Family Policy: Government and Family in Fourteen Countries. New York: Columbia University Press. Lentz, Ellen. 1978. "East Germany Makes a Baby Boom." International HeraM Tribune, March 24, p. 7. Oppenheimer, Valerie Kincaide. 1970. The Female Labor Force in the United States. Berkeley: Population Monograph Series, No. 5, University of California. Rather, Ronnie Steinberg. (Ed.) 1980. Equal Employment Policyfor Women: Strategiesfor Implementation in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Slepack, Donna Grund. 1976. "Women in the German Democratic Republic: A Field Study and Comparative Analysis." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. Social Indicators 1976. 1977. A report by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Sociallndicators Ill. 1980. A publication of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce` Bureau of Census. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office. Statistical Abstract o f the United States: 1980. U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Statistical Pocketbook o f the GDR. 1976. Berlin: Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Statistical Yearbook o f the GDR. 1980. Berlin: Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. 1979. Social Security and the Changing Roles o f Men and Women. Washington, D.C.: U.S. DHEW. Women and Socialism. 1976. Berlin: Panorama. Women in the GDR: Facts and Figures. 1975. Dresden. Verlag Zeit im Bild.
Women's Lives and Social Policy in East Germany and the United States*
During the last decade the study of social policy has become a new and flourishing science in Western countries. Momentous changes in women's roles have at the same time made social policy a promising vehicle for the realization of sex equality. Yet there are few comparative studies that show either the different substantive alternatives or how social policies actually affect women's lives under different circumstances (see, however, Giele and Smock, 1977; Blumberg, 1976; Ecldein, forthcoming; and Kamerman and Kahn, 1978). Our purpose here is to suggest some of the questions and puzzles that arise in a comparison of women and social policy in two advanced industrial societies--one socialist (G.D.R.) and the other capitalist (U.S.A.). Our data are varied, drawn from a combination of personal experience, official documents, and numerous research studies. These materials are here arranged in such fashion as to suggest parallel as well as different trends in the status of women in the two countries. *An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Ninth World Congress of Sociology, Uppsala, Sweden, August 1978. Joan Levin Ecklein wishes to acknowledge the generous help of Kurt Olivier of the German General News Service in updating statistics on the G.D.R. STUDIKqINCOMPARATIVECOMMUNISM
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The ensuing analysis is organized in two major parts; the first compares the two countries in broad demographic, economic, and ideological terms to suggest reasons for the similarities and differences that shape their social policies toward women. The second part contrasts the social policies of the two countries in three dimensions-education, employment, and family life. Finally, in our conclusion we reflect two alternative interpretations of the evidence. One of us (Ecklein) is more inclined to notice differences between the countries that stem from the Communist or capitalist emphasis. The other (Giele) believes that parallel trends in the two countries are attributable to advanced structural differentiation in both economies. Rather than minimize these differences, we have allowed our conclusion to reflect them and thus suggest key questions for future research. (It should also be noted that Giele wrote the section on the U.S.A. and Ecklein the section on the G.D.R.)
Characteristics of the Two Countries There are a variety of socialist and capitalist countries of which the German Democratic Republic and the United States are merely two examples. Depending on history, political and cultural tradition, and level of industrial advancement there may be greater or lesser differences in the social policies of different countries. For example, the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany share certain traditions of social policy toward the family that stem from reforms won by the working class during the preFascist period. On the other hand, the G.D.R. and the United States are similar with respect to their advanced industrial status, but different in important global characteristics. The aspects described here are the demographic, economic, and ideological features that are particularly salient to the status of women.
German Democratic Republic During the last thirty years the G.D.R. has travelled the path from an economically devastated, defeated Fascist state to an advanced socialist society. Economy. As of 1975, 95.8 percent of all enterprises were nationally owned. Agriculture has been all but completely collectivized. There is now overall national planning by the state in all sectors. The economy is developing very swiftly. The volume of industrial output was 1,625,000 marks for the five years 1976-1980. This was 32.2 percent more than 1971-1975. (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980.) In addition, the G D R is one of the top ten industrial countries in the world.
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By law everyone is guaranteed a job. There is no unemployment. While prices have remained stable or gone down, the average income of workers has steadily risen. The average monthly income per household for working people was 755M in 1970, 889M in 1975, and 1030M in 1980. (GDR Facts and Figures 1980: 41; Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980.) These figures do not include the "hidden pay packet"--the things that are heavily subsidized or free, such as food, rent, transportation, childcare, and education. It is estimated that each family now receives an extra 760M monthly through these subsidies. This means that when income is added to subsidies, the annual per capita income has gone from 7,680M in 1975 to 9,500M in 1980. It is planned to increase these subsidies to 900M monthly in 1985. There is still a severe housing shortage but current plans envisage its alleviation by 1990. As a result of the high rate of industrial development, including automation, labor productivity has vastly increased. This has led to a reduction in working hours for the entire population with no loss in pay, from a 48-hour week to a 43-3/4 hour, five-day week. For mothers of two children, young people, and shift workers, there is now a 40-hour week. Planners look forward to further decreases in working hours for the entire population with no loss in pay as production becomes more fully automated. Demography. As a result of heavy losses of life during World War II and emigration during the 1950s there is a distinct imbalance in the sex ratio. The female/male ratio is 117/100. This is especially marked among the women forty years old and older. In this category there are 4.4 million women to 2.8 million men. Under age forty there are slightly more men than women. Presently there is a marked labor shortage. Current plans envision its alleviation by 1987 (Slepack, 1976: 52-54). The birth rate in the G.D.R. was one of the lowest in Eastern Europe with 10.8 births per 1000 population (Statistical Pocket Book of the GDR, 1976). The government is seeking to reverse this trend. As a result of new social policies allowing women with a second child to have a year off with pay, the birth rate was up to 13.3 per thousand population in 1977, one full year after the new policy was instituted (Lentz, 1978). By 1980 it had risen to 14.7 per thousand population (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Ideology. The socialist government is firmly committed to the full emancipation of women. It argues that only under socialist conditions will it be possible to overcome the legacy of oppression of both men and women that is the inheritance of capitalism. The question is not alone one of women liberating themselves from the domina-
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tion of men, but also of the liberation of both men and women from the exploitation experienced in a class society. It is explicitly recognized that under capitalism women were doubly exploited. Liberation from this double exploitation is not regarded as an automatic process but one to be vigorously pursued and systematically reviewed so that the myriad legacies of women's oppression can be eliminated on a step by step basis. It is further stated that societal progress is measured by the emancipation of women, and that women's economic activity is essential to that progress. Working outside the home is seen as necessary for the development of the women's potential as well as that of society. Moreover--and this is of critical importance--the combination of work and family roles is not felt to be the responsibility of the individual woman but of the entire society. The "double burden" currently experienced by G.D.R. women is viewed as a temporary phenomenon, one of the remainders of a capitalist past that has to be systematically overcome.
The United States In contrast with Germany after the Second World War, the United States did not suffer a large population loss, a devastated economy, or a major military and ideological defeat. Instead, until recently, the predominant themes in America have been population growth, economic boom, and general reinforcement of the liberal capitalist tradition with its twin concerns for individualism and equality. Economic Context. As is well known, the United States is a rich country with a very high median family income; $19,684 in 1979, almost twice the 1950 amount of $10,008 (in 1979 constant dollars). The average weekly hours needed to produce such income declined from 42 in 1950 to 39.0 in 1979. At the same time the number of jobs increased faster than the population. Nonetheless, the unemployment rate hovered between 4 and 8 percent between 1947 and 1976. Large numbers of persons never before employed (principally women) were entering the labor force, increasing their proportion in the labor force from 28 percent after World War II to 42 percent in 1980. While (as in other industrial nations) male labor force participation rates have declined slightly (from 83 percent in 1960 to 78 percent in 1979), the female rate has steadily risen (from 38 percent m 1960 to 50 percent in 1979) (Social Indicators, III, 361; 385; Statistical Abstract o f the United States: 1980: 451, 394). Accompanying these many signs of success, however, is an emerging critique of the growth economy with its negative, side effects
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such as high energy use, pollution, and dual labor market. Advocates of change are searching for more localized forms of agriculture and industry that are less monopolistic and less resource-hungry, and less likely to split the labor force into a primary sector with secure jobs and a secondary sector (made up largely of women and blacks) with more marginal jobs and benefits (Giele, 1978, Ch. 3). Demographic Changes. Until recently, the major demographic issues in America have concerned stabilization of population growth. Following World War II the birth rate rose steadily until 1958 when fertility was 50 percent greater than it had been in 1940. Since 1958, however, fertility has gradually fallen so that by 1978 the birth rate stood at 15.3 per thousand persons and the total fertility rate was 1.8 children per woman, just half the comparable figure for 1957. Unlike Germany, the sex ratio is not imbalanced except in the oldest age groups where women outlive men by several years. Life expectancy of girls born today is 78 years (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1980: 61-62, 73). This combination of declining fertility and increasing longevity has had significant impact on the typical life cycle of women. With their childbearing virtually complete at the age of thirty, and fifty more years yet to live, an increasing number of women realize that their adult life cannot be fully occupied with family affairs. Moreover, at least a third of present marriages are expected to end in divorce. The result is a growing acceptance of many different role options for women: some that will continue the traditional familybased role, others that will follow a dual career pattern, of combining employment and family responsibility, and still others that will vary the pattern over the life course. American Sex-role Ideology. Because the American political system is pluralistic, and guidelines for realization of equality are not set by central planning, women seeking equal rights have had to wage a campaign to change public opinion in favor of such changes as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The feminist movement has grown noticeably since the mid-1960s when groups such as the National Organization of Women were founded, and certain key laws (such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting sex discrimination) were instituted. Now principal issues center around such rights as abortion (particularly for poor women who must rely on government medical aid), Social Security protection for displaced homemakers, and the father's as well as the mother's obligation to support the children of a divorce. Opponents of the ERA seem primarily concerned that the Amendment will result in women's loss of privileges and protections associated with
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traditional division of labor between the sexes, such as exemption from military service.
Social Policies and Women's Lives It appears that these overarching characteristics of the G.D.R. and the U.S.A. give rise to social policies with similar as well as different features. Similarities appear in the rising educational attainment and employment of women. Differences appear in the speed and extent of such change. Our comparison of the two countries is based on specific social policies in each of three domains--education, employment, and family life--and actual indicators of women's changing status in these fields.
Education G.D.R. Education is completely free for everyone in the G.D.R. Almost all college and technical school students receive a stipend or grant. All young persons receive complete vocational training as part of their education. There is today virtually no difference between the education men and women receive. In 1979, 48.2 percent of all college students were women and 71 percent of all technical school students were women (GDR Facts and Figures, 1980:48). "The proportion of women studying technological or natural science subjects has risen over the past few years from 46.1 to 61.7 percent" ( Women and Socialism, 1976: 26). The change since presocialist times is extreme. During the Fascist period almost no women were even allowed to receive a higher education and practically all the education of women has occurred since 1945. Thus, "In 1971 out of every 100 women the following number had acquired their respective education level after 1945: college graduates 92 percent, technical school graduates 90 percent, supervisors 79 percent, skilled workers 74 percent" (Women in the GDR: Facts and Figures, 1975: 33). Accordingly, the younger the women, the more education they have and the more similar they are in education to men of their age group. This can have an important impact on the future status of women in the G.D.R. Adult education for the entire population is very extensive. Every year 300,000 to 400,000 working women take part in various courses to complete and finish their education ( Women in GDR: Facts and Figures, 1975: 35). Every encouragement is given to women to further their education. There are various social policies designed to give women education and training without interfering with their role as mothers and homemakers. Some of these social policies are a direct
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result of an extensive sociological study, conducted by the Academy of Science, that sought to determine how to motivate unskilled women workers to become skilled workers. (The following provisions apply to all working women.) Women are given released time from work to study with no loss in pay. The amount of released time depends on the type of course. For example, firms may organize a full-time course in which case a woman may be given up to sixty days with no loss in pay. If she attends a course outside her firm she may be given two or three days a week off from her firm. "At full-time courses especially adapted for women, they are given 190M per month as a grant plus 80 percent of their net average wage" (Women and Socialism, 1976: 30). Among the other special provisions for women are the following: tutors to help them with any problems they may have, both intellectual and personal; assurance that they can finish the course if they have to interrupt it because of illness, illness of a child, or pregnancy; a written agreement with their firms specifying the job they will return to after the course is completed (Women in the GDR, 1975: 35; Women and Socialism, 1976: 30). There are also various provisions to encourage older women to take additional job training. Since 1973 women over thirty-five do not have to take a written examination if they have worked three years on the job for which they are qualified (Women and Socialism, 1976: 31). Partly as a result of these special provisions, 65 percent more women received skilled workers' certificates in 1974 than in 1972. It should also be noted that the course of study to train skilled workers consists not only of skills training but of courses in Marxism-Leninism, the socialist economy, and the place of that enterprise in the economy. U.S.A. American education by contrast is based on a mixed system of public and private sponsorship with the private sector particularly significant in higher education. The United States has long been committed to equality of educational opportunity, and spends five percent of its Gross National Product on education. In 1970 over 80 percent of the population from ages fifteen to eighteen were in school full-time, and over 35 percent of the population of ages nineteen and twenty. These conditions have generally served women well, as is shown in their educational attainment at the high school and college levels. In 1973-74, 76 percent of females graduated from high school as compared with 72 percent of the males. In 1978 the number of bachelor's and master's degrees conferred on women (50 percent in 1978) equaled the proportion earned by men. Women, however, earned only 27 percent of the doctorates in all fields taken together (Social Indicators, 1976:281, 291, 304; Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1980: 175).
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Several new developments promise eventual improvement of this record. One is the burgeoning development of adult education in which 51 percent of the participants are women and 49 percent men. (Women's education appears to be less often vocationally oriented than men's however; in 1972, 70 percent of the men enrolled in adult education were in occupational training programs as compared with only 45 percent of women (Social Indicators, 1976:310-311). In addition great efforts are being made to encourage women in mathematical and scientific training. At the same time the growth of women's studies has introduced new content from literature and history into the curriculum that teaches the high value of women's contribution to society. The women's movement has been a chief factor in the drive for greater equality of women in the educational system. Feminist efforts are buttressed by two Executive Orders that bar discrimination against women in promotion and pay in institutions of higher education, and by the Higher Education Act of 1972 that extends legal recourse against discrimination to issues of curriculum, admissions criteria, financial assistance and other aspects of the educational program. The Women's Educational Equity Act of 1974 calls for positive educational efforts on behalf of women such as improved curricula, and counseling, resource centers, and community education programs. But so far, progress seems slow on such matters as raising the number of women in top professorships at the university level.
Employment G.D.R. As of 1980, 87 percent of all G.D.R. women capable of working (between ages 15 to 65) were employed. The number of women in paid work has doubled since 1949. Women are not working out of absolute necessity. It is perfectly possible to have a good standard of living with one member of the family employed. Equal pay for equal work has been a reality since 1946 when the Soviet occupying forces issued such an edict. The law is strictly enforced, and the issue of equal pay is today considered a concern of the past. Women work in all branches of industry but are highly concentrated in certain branches. While only 15 percent of the building industry is composed of women and 27 percent of the transport industry are women, 71 percent of those employed in education and culture, and 85 percent of those employed in commerce are women. Within the industrial sector women are concentrated in the textile industry where they comprise 71 percent of its labor force and 62 percent in light industry.
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While no statistics are available, it is likely that the average income for women is lower than that of men. This stems from two factors. Large numbers of women are still in traditional femaletyped occupations that world-wide have not been so well remunerated as other occupations. Furthermore, safety regulations for women are very detailed and strictly enforced. Women are not allowed for health reasons to work in certain areas of heavy industry, construction, and mining that are very highly paid. There is now a considerable shift underway in women's occupations due to several factors. First, there has been a concerted effort to move women from unskilled to skilled job classifications. A rapid shift occurred. In 1971, 51.85 percent of the female work force were unskilled and by 1975 only 42.8 percent were unskilled. As of 1980, 70 percent of all working women have completed vocational training (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Second, women are moving into fields traditionally dominated by men. While only 27 percent of the people now employed in the buildings material industry are women, 51.9 percent of the students newly admitted in 1974 to technical schools to study building material technology were women (Women in the GDR, 1975: 43). In 1974, 81.7 percent of the new apprentices in data processing were women and 69 percent of the chemical engineering and 60 percent of the electrical engineering apprentices were women (Women and Socialism, 1976: 25). As of 1980, 40 percent of all apprentices in training for technical occupations are girls. The effect of these shifts is that in some of the new areas women outnumber men. Women have also gained a strong foothold in high prestige occupations such as medicine (46 percent), law (30 percent), and high public office (31 percent) (Slepack, 1976: 56). A third shift is in the occupational structure itself. In 1949 over 50 percent of the working women had been employed in agriculture; today this figure is down to 10 percent; the number of women in commerce has doubled since 1949. Throughout the trade unions there are what American women would call affirmative action programs that are very extensive and strictly enforced. Within each trade union branch committee is a woman's commission made up of women members elected every two years. The women's commissions shape the content and application of women's promotion plans that are part of the agreement signed each year between the management of an enterprise and the trade union committee. The manager and the trade union committee of a firm are answerable to the women for carrying out the terms of this agreement. These promotion plans stipulate the increased participation by women in management and planning, further edu-
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cation for women and the improvement within the enterprise of working and living conditions for women. U.S.A. One of the most striking characteristics of American women's employment since the Second World War is the dramatic rise in their labor force participation. In 1940 only 15 percent of married women over thirty-five years of age were in the labor force. The comparable figure had grown to 37 percent by 1960. Labor shortages during the interim in certain "female-typed" occupations such as teaching and clerical work had broken down traditional rules against employment of older married women. Between 1950 and 1976 the labor force participation rate of women sixteen years of age and older grew from 33 percent to 47 percent (Oppenheimer, 1970: 20; Social Indicators, 1976: 372). Among women aged between forty-five and fifty-nine the rate was 45 percent in 1955. It is expected to be 58 percent in 1980 and well over 60 percent in the 1990s (Social Indicators, 1976: 366). Despite the remarkable change in participation rates, however, women are narrowly concentrated in a few occupations. Fully 35 percent of all employed women were in clerical work in 1978 and a large proportion were in three occupations: teacher, secretary, and nurse. While the proportion of women who were professionals and managers (22 percent) compared favorably with the ratio for men (29 percent), only 2 percent of employed women could be found in the remunerative skilled blue collar occupations of craftsman and foreman, as compared with 20 percent of men. Yet twice as large a proportion of women were employed as service workers (Social Indicators, 1976: 377; Social Indicators III, 1980: 355). These proportions are apparently related to the much lower average pay that women receive (roughly 60 percent of men's). It is now believed that this pay differential is not caused so much by failure to enforce the equal pay laws as by subtle channeling of women and men into different sex-labeled occupations (Giele, 1978: 101). Nevertheless there have been some dramatic changes recently in the representation of women in certain male-dominated professions. Although in 1971 women lawyers were only 3 percent of the profession, they constituted I0 percent of the entering class (twice as many as in 1967) and probably today make up at least 20 to 30 percent of the student body in most law schools. Another example is the number of women in political office: between 1969 and 1975, the number of women state legislators doubled from 305 to 610 and in 1979 had reached 770 (still representing, however, only 9 percent of the total) (Giele, 1978: 247, 57; Statistical Abstract of the United States:
1980:515).
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Important remedies for employment inequality are embodied in such laws as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 barring discrimination on the basis of sex, and the Higher Education Acts of the 1970s. Increasingly, however, it is recognized that many subtle factors of socialization and motivation are involved in a woman's choice of occupation. In addition, structural factors on the job may block women's access to training and promotion, not because of any overt discrimination but because of the design of the job itself. A new concept, embodied in the phrase "equal pay for work of equal value," represents a more fundamental effort to bring about occupational equality for men and women through a reorganization of industrial institutions and concepts (Giele, 1978, Ch. 3; Ratner, 1980).
Family Life and Women's Roles G.D.R. The constitution and the labor code both explicitly stipulate that the state must create the institutions and the conditions whereby a woman can combine a full professional life with that of wife and mother. Accordingly 92 percent of all children between the ages of three and six are eared for in state-supported kindergartens. Over 60 percent of the children between six months and three years are in state-supported nurseries (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Almost all school age children up to age ten are eared for in after-school centers. These figures have steadily increased over the years. For example, in 1975 only 51 percent of all babies were in nurseries. Women receive one household day (a free day) a month with pay. Mothers with two or more children work a 40-hour week instead of a 44-hour week, and mothers also receive longer vacation periods. These provisions and others similar to them have grown in number over the years. The G.D.R. constitution states "Marriage and the family are the foundation of community life" (Allendorf, 1975: 99). Accordingly there are various provisions to strengthen marriage and get it off to a good start. Newly married couples are given an interest-free loan of 5000 Marks which can be paid back over an eight-year period. If the couple has children during that time, part of the loan is erased for each successive child. Even with such supports the divorce rate is rising sharply. The 1955 figure of 25,736 divorces rose to 27,486 in 1964, and 41,620 in 1975. In part the rise in divorce may be due to social policies that allow women economic independence from men. No woman need now be financially dependent on a man, and the majority of requests for divorce are made by women. With the birth of each child couples are paid 1000 Marks and a
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monthly stipend is also allotted for each child. There are many special supports for women living alone with children. For example, single parents who have to stop work because there is no room in kindergartens or nurseries for their children can receive monthly insurance payments equivalent to what they would receive as sickhess benefits. Various social policies concern childbearing. Women receive complete maternity care free of charge. There are changes in job assignments during pregnancy with no loss in pay during the time a woman is carrying a child and for a considerable time after the child is born. The infant mortality rate went down from 18.5 per thousand live births in 1970 to 12.1 per thousand live births in 1980. Similarly maternal mortality was lowered from 2.2 per thousand births in 1975 to 1.68 per thousand births in 1980. Since 1972 women can interrupt their pregnancies through abortion up to the 12th week of gestation in state-supported facilities. They receive regular sick leave at this time. From the age of sixteen on, they have access to various means of birth control at no cost (Statistical Yearbook of the GDR, 1980). Women receive a 26-week pregnancy and 20-week postnatal leave during which time they receive their net average earnings. With the second and subsequent child women receive 65 percent of their wages from the end of their postnatal leave until the child's first birthday. The paid year after the birth of the second child went into effect in 1976. If after the first baby, a mother wishes, she may take a full year off and have her job remain open for her. If she cannot find a place in a nursery she can take off until the child's third birthday. The number of labor-saving devices has increased steadily. Whereas only 26 percent of all households in 1965 had a refrigerator, 85 percent had one in 1975. Similarly only 28 percent of all households had a washing machine in 1965, compared with'73 percent in 1975 (Einheit, July/August 1978: 848). U.S.A. Certain aspects of family life in America have remained fairly constant from 1950 to 1975. For example, the proportion married of both sexes stood at about two-thirds throughout the period. The average family size of 3.5 was fairly stable from 1950 to 1970. Remarkable changes occurred, however, with respect to divorce and family composition. The divorce rate doubled, from 16 divorces per thousand women aged fourteen to forty-four in 1950, to 37 per thousand in 1977. The number of female-headed families rose from 9 percent in 1950 to nearly 15 percent in 1978, and the number of children under eighteen living with mother only grew from 8 percent in 1960 to 17 percent in 1978. There was also a surge in the
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number of single-person households, particularly among women over sixty-five of whom 24 percent were primary individuals living alone in 1950 as compared with 41 percent in 1978 (Social Indicators 1976: 62-67; Social Indicators 111, 1980: 46-51). Changes in family composition and the rise in divorce have raised concern for women's well-being and ways that social programs and policies can be designed to strengthen the family. New responses to these issues are evident in two ways: (I) growth of services such as family planning and day care; and (2) new policy initiatives to improve family well-being and women's security. Services such as family planning and access to abortion were given tremendous impetus by two Supreme Court decisions in 1973 that struck down state prohibitions. (Since then, however, there have been efforts, so far unsuccessful, to nullify the change through Congressional action, and some state legislatures have actually barred use of Medicaid funds to poor women for abortions.) Day care has burgeoned since 1961 when there were only 141,000 children in care and only 4,000 child care centers. By 1970 the number of children had grown to 625,000 and the number of centers had quadrupled. Twice as many children were in nursery schools and kindergartens in the second half of the 1960s as in the first half (Giele, 1977: 327). By 1978 the enrollment in nursery schools was 1.8 million, nearly triple the 1965 figure (Social Indicators III, 1980: 293). Recently after-school programs have been instituted in some city schools. Policy initiatives on behalf of women include efforts to make parental leaves and allowances more widely available, to institute flextime and more part-time opportunities, and to give credit for women's contributions as homemakers under the Social Security system (Giele and Kahne, 1978). Some corporations already provide maternity leave and the right to use disability insurance to cover maternity costs; however, change is uneven. Similarly part-time work has increased and between 1948 and 1976 the proportion of women who worked part time increased from 20 percent to 34 percent. In the early 1970s some firms and government agencies began to experiment with flextime but as yet the plans cover only about 750,000 workers (Giele and Kahne, 1978). Experiments with crediting women's household work under the Social Security system have yet to be instituted, but a number of plans are now being considered by a special task force in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The two principal alternatives being considered rely either on noncontributory credits for the homemaker or on earningssplitting based on the joint income tax record of a couple. Propo-
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nents of these plans believe that such an arrangement would recognize the marriage as an equal partnership and improve the earnings record on which women's retirement security is based (U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979). Conchtsion
In sum, in many ways it appears that although the United States is richer, a socialist country such as the German Democratic Republic is marking a path toward social supports for easing women's participation in the labor force that is the envy of many women in the nonsocialist world. While many American mothers of young children long for a dependable child care system, women in East Germany already have such programs in place. So it is with many other new programs--paid maternity leave, opportunities for continuing education, and so on. G.D.R. women, however, would probably like to enjoy the level of affluence accessible to upper middle class American women. From a sociological point of view what more general interpretations can be given these observations? Ecklein concludes that there are some similarities between the changing conditions of American women and G.D.R. women. Women in both countries are entering the labor force in increasing numbers. They are found in more diversified occupations. They are eager to combine a family with labor market participation. In Ecklein's opinion, however, the differences are more striking than the similarities. In the G.D.R. the whole society is geared to change in a systematic way. Because of its socialist economy with state ownership of production and centralized planning as well as a consistent pro-emancipation ideology, the G.D.R. has been able to institute social policies such as universal state-supported child care, household days, and paid education and maternity leave. In contrast, in the United States with its private ownership of production and individualist ideology, no such concerted effort is possible in such a short time. In addition, the combination of economic, ideological and demographic factors in the G.D.R. has resulted not only in a full employment policy but in the rapid institution of programs to help women combine employment and family. In contrast, the United States for the same reasons has no full employment policy and has few official programs to help women combine employment and family life. In considering future trends in the G.D.R. there is reason to expect that the role of women will continue to develop in the direction it has taken during the last 30 years. Women will continue to
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move into more diverse occupations, some of which are now dominated by men. This process may accelerate in the future because the gap between men's and women's education is closing and industry is rapidly automating. The development of a unified woman's role combining labor-market participation with a family may also change as a result of increased emphasis on changing men's roles. It is quite likely that in the future both men and women will have the option of a household day, baby year, and a shorter work week. Already men who have custody of their children or an ill wife have the same special consideration as mothers. In the United States, the newly articulated desire of American women to combine a family with employment and to have such publicly supported services as day care is quite strong and is likely to become even stronger in the future. American women will be able to win some of the social supports already obtained by G.D.R. women through the women's movement. These will differ, however, in four critical respects. American women will not be able to obtain as large a scope of publicly supported services and supports as G.D.R. women have. Neither can they achieve them as rapidly as G.D.R. women have done. Further, services gained are not likely to be so evenly spread throughout the population that poorer women can benefit most from them. Finally, there is likely to be significant unevenness in the rate of progress due to cycles in the American economy. Giele, on the other hand, emphasizes underlying similarities in the two countries that are due to advanced technology and a highly differentiated industrial economy. Despite overriding ideological and political differences between the two countries, Giele finds the shape of certain trends similar. For example, in both countries there is a rising divorce rate, lower fertility, greater longevity, and many more role options for women than in a traditional agricultural economy. More women are in the labor force, both in East Germany and in America. This is true even for mothers with young children. Such changes are accompanied by a widespread desire on the part of families for child care outside the home and for flexible work schedules that will facilitate women's "two roles." The interesting question to Giele is how, when political structure is so different, can such similar trends appear? Giele's explanation focuses on the structural similarities in the division of labor in the two societies. Both the G.D.R. and the United States are complex industrial societies. Jobs consist of specialized interchangeable tasks that facilitate greater crossover between all types of ascribed roles (male/female, old/young, etc.). As a result the predominant in-built
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tendencies of such modern societies are to compensate for lack of knowledge or capacity associated with traditional roles by substituting specialized personnel who can do the task instead (witness the child care done by specialists in the day care center, or the cooking that is done outside the home or through convenience foods). At the same time new social programs and policies are instituted that facilitate the movement of women out of ascribed roles through such mechanisms as flexible hours, continuing education, etc. The result, whether the society is socialist or not, is greater interchangeability of capacities and occupations that once had been segregated between the roles of women and men (Giele, 1971, 1980). In such a brief space it is only possible to suggest the key issues for comparison of women's status in socialist and nonsocialist societies. We have pointed out some of the essential differences and similarities. Ecklein has shown how ideological positions and form of government may explain the differences in extent and speed of change in women's roles. Giele has pointed to similar efforts to change ascribed roles that may be attributable to such factors as the technological advancement and occupational specialization that are common to all industrial societies. Yet our explorations in the comparative sociology of women's lives and social policy have merely begun. Not only are there further historical, cultural, and economic variations to be taken into account; in addition there are complex questions of data comparability: How is one to define poverty, or even such a seemingly straightforward statistic as women's labor force participation? (See for example, Boulding, et al., 1977.) How the statistics are constructed will inevitably shape the conclusions. We do not claim to have solved all these problems. But we do hope that the research we have begun will contribute to the common goals of women in every country for the fullest realization of their innate potential. The question that now stands before us is how such goals can best be realized in various societies located in quite different settings.
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Ecklein, Joan, Forthcoming. "Women in the German Democratic Republic: Impact of Culture and Social Policy." In Women in the Middle Years: Current Knowledge and Directionsfor Research and Policy. Ed. by J.Z. Giele` New York: Wiley. Einheit. 1978. July/August. GDR Facts and Figures. 1980. Berlin: Panorama. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1971. "Changes in the Modern Family: Their Impact on Sex Roles." American Journal o f Orthopsychiatry 41 (October), pp. 757-766. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1977. "United States: A Prolonged Search for Equal Rights." In Women: Roles andStatus in Eight Countries. Ed. by J. Z. Giele and A. C. Smock. New York: Wiley. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1978. Women and the Future: Changing Sex Roles in Modern America. New York: Free Press. Giele, Janet Zollinger. 1980. "Crossovers: New Themes in Adult Roles and the Life Cycle." In Women's Lives: New Theory, Research and Policy. Ed. by D. G. McGuigan. Ann Arbor. University of Michigan, Center for Continuing Education of Women. Giele, Janet Zollinger, and Hilda Kahne. 1978. "Meeting Work and Family Responsibilities: Proposals for Flexibility." In Women in Mid-Life--Security and Fulfillment (Part I). Ed. by A.F. Cahn, U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging. 95th Congress, Second Session. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. Giele, Janet Zollinger, and Audrey Chapman Smock. 1977. Women: Roles and Status in Eight Countries. New York: Wiley. Glick, Paul C. 1975. "A Demographer Looks at American Families." Journal o f Marriage and the Family, 37 (February), pp. 15-26. Kamerman, Sheila B., and Alfred Kahn. 1978. Family Policy: Government and Family in Fourteen Countries. New York: Columbia University Press. Lentz, Ellen. 1978. "East Germany Makes a Baby Boom." International HeraM Tribune, March 24, p. 7. Oppenheimer, Valerie Kincaide. 1970. The Female Labor Force in the United States. Berkeley: Population Monograph Series, No. 5, University of California. Rather, Ronnie Steinberg. (Ed.) 1980. Equal Employment Policyfor Women: Strategiesfor Implementation in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Slepack, Donna Grund. 1976. "Women in the German Democratic Republic: A Field Study and Comparative Analysis." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. Social Indicators 1976. 1977. A report by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Sociallndicators Ill. 1980. A publication of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce` Bureau of Census. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office. Statistical Abstract o f the United States: 1980. U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Statistical Pocketbook o f the GDR. 1976. Berlin: Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. Statistical Yearbook o f the GDR. 1980. Berlin: Staatsverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. 1979. Social Security and the Changing Roles o f Men and Women. Washington, D.C.: U.S. DHEW. Women and Socialism. 1976. Berlin: Panorama. Women in the GDR: Facts and Figures. 1975. Dresden. Verlag Zeit im Bild.