The Effects of Family Policy in the Former GDR on Nuptiality and Births Outside Marriage

Overview Chapter 4: Changing family and partnership behaviour

“…In some of these countries, non-marital births may still largely be unplanned (Romania chapter), and may meet with disapproval among the majority population (Poland chapter, see also Overview Chapter 6). Coleman (2006) posits that births among single mothers are partly fuelled by specific welfare policies providing support to single mothers (see also Gonzáles 2005 andSalles 2006). The Austria chapter offers the same explanation for the unusually high proportion of children born to lone mothers, who represent one-fifth of all first children (see Table 5).…”

“…Differences within countries also remain pronounced, following long-established religious and cultural divisions, as well as different historical patterns (e.g., the Czech Republic chapter). Germany constitutes a specific case of persistent regional differentiation in non-marital childbearing: the already high percentage of non-marital births in Eastern Germany shot up further after unification in 1990, whereas the percentage of non-marital births in Western Germany increased gradually, remaining below the EU average (Figure 8; see Germany chapter for an overview of various hypotheses for this divergence; see also Konietzka andKreyenfeld 2002 andSalles 2006). Differences between ethnic groups can also be large.…”

“…This 'instrumentalization of marriage' (Salles 2006) can lead to distinct marriage booms and busts that occur in reaction to the actual or expected changes in public pensions, taxation, or marriage allowances. Such distinct marriage booms took place in Sweden in 1989 ( Figure 1, see Sweden chapter and Andersson 1998), and in Austria in 1972, 1983, and 1987(Austria chapter, Prioux 1993 In addition, short-term marriage booms may also be caused by such factors as 'lucky' dates in the calendar, like, for example, July 7, 2007 (07-07-07).…”

Overview Chapter 6: The diverse faces of the Second Demographic Transition in Europe

“…But 'history' may also refer to the influence of cultural changes and policies during communism. For instance, Salles (2006) has argued that the policies enacted to help lone mothers, but also to promote marriage in East Germany since the 1970s, eventually had a negative effect on marriage in the long run: "East German family policy instrumentalized marriage and stripped it of all the appeal once the associated material advantages were withdrawn. The family policy of the GDR thus played a key part in weakening of the role of marriage in the family and in East German society" (Salles 2006: 149).…”

Spatial Aspects of the Rise of Nonmarital Fertility Across Europe Since 1960: The Role of States and Regions in Shaping Patterns of Change

“…1c), including Great Britain, France, the German Democratic Republic and Denmark. Policies that pro- 12 For the USSR only data at the level of the Soviet Republics is provided for 1960, 1975 and 1990. For Romania, no regional data is available for 1960, 1975 and 1990. vided support to single mothers may have promoted the increase in nonmarital childbearing in France (Knijn et al 2007) and the German Democratic Republic (Salles 2006 Fig. 3).…”