Book Chapter

Geburtenentwicklung und Familienformen nach der Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands

Abstract

The transformation of East Germany´s legal and political system has provided researchers with rich opportunities to study the effect of radical social change on fertility and life course patterns. From a family-research perspective, understanding the extent to which timing in marriage and family formation has changed since unification is particularly interesting. Despite a substantial increase following unification, the age at first parenthood in eastern Germany has not reached West German levels. Family- and fertility-related behavior in both parts of Germany also differs as to marriage patterns, living arrangements, and the employment behavior of mothers. Many aspects of demographic change in eastern Germany and Eastern Europe are not yet fully understood. The "Gender and Generations Program" will collect both individual level and contextual data for theoretically innovative, comparative analyses of changing family dynamics after system transformation.