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Crisis or Adaptation – Reconsidered: A Comparison of East and West German Fertility Patterns in the First Six Years after the ‘Wende'

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  • Michaela Kreyenfeld

    (Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research)

Abstract

Like other Eastern Europeancountries, East Germany experienced a rapiddecline in period fertility rates after thefall of communism. This decline has beendiscussed along the lines of a ‘crisis’ andan ‘adaptation’ to western demographic patterns. The aim of this paper istwofold. Firstly, we discuss the factors whichfoster and hamper a convergence of fertilitybehaviour in East and West Germany. Secondly,we use data from the German micro-census toanalyse the fertility patterns of the cohortsborn 1961–1970. The main result of ourempirical analysis is that East Germans whowere still childless at the time of unificationare quicker to have their first child in thesubsequent years than comparable West Germans. However, regarding second parity births, thepattern reverses. Here, East Germans display alower transition rate than their counterpartsin the West.

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  • Michaela Kreyenfeld, 2003. "Crisis or Adaptation – Reconsidered: A Comparison of East and West German Fertility Patterns in the First Six Years after the ‘Wende'," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 303-329, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:19:y:2003:i:3:d:10.1023_a:1024992712815
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1024992712815
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    1. Studer, Matthias & Struffolino, Emanuela & Fasang, Anette Eva, 2018. "Estimating the Relationship between Time-varying Covariates and Trajectories: The Sequence Analysis Multistate Model Procedure," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 103-135.
    2. Anja Vatterrott, 2015. "Socialisation or Institutional Context: What Determines the First and Second Birth Behaviour of East–West German Migrants?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 383-415, October.
    3. Elizabeth Thomson, 2004. "Step-families and Childbearing Desires in Europe," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 3(5), pages 117-134.
    4. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Jeffrey B. Nugent, 2005. "Does Economic Uncertainty Affect the Decision to Bear Children? Evidence from East and West Germany," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp788, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    5. Anja Vatterrott, 2011. "The fertility behaviour of East to West German migrants," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2011-013, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    6. Dirk Konietzka & Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2005. "Nichteheliche Mutterschaft und soziale Ungleichheit: zur sozioökonomischen Differenzierung der Familienformen in Ost- und Westdeutschland," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2005-001, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    7. Liepmann, Hannah, 2018. "The impact of a negative labor demand shock on fertility – Evidence from the fall of the Berlin Wall," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 210-224.
    8. Joachim R. Frick & Markus M. Grabka & Anika Rasner & Marian Schmidt & Morten Schuth & Christian Westermeier, 2012. "Familienbiographische Verläufe im Kohortenvergleich," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 439, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    9. Holger von der Lippe & Gunnar Andersson, 2005. "Becoming a parent in East Germany during the 1990s. The impact of personal considerations on the timing of entry to parenthood," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2005-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    10. Joshua R. Goldstein & Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2010. "East Germany overtakes West Germany: recent trends in order-specific fertility dynamics," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2010-033, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    11. Tomáš Sobotka & Éva Beaujouan, 2014. "Two Is Best? The Persistence of a Two-Child Family Ideal in Europe," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 40(3), pages 391-419, September.
    12. repec:zbw:rwirep:0379 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Marcus Klemm, 2012. "Job Security and Fertility: Evidence from German Reunification," Ruhr Economic Papers 0379, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Lynn Prince Cooke, 2009. "Policy Effects on Class-Gender Employment Intersections," LIS Working papers 522, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    15. Laura Bernardi & Andreas Klärner & Holger Lippe, 2008. "Job Insecurity and the Timing of Parenthood: A Comparison between Eastern and Western Germany," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(3), pages 287-313, September.
    16. Tobias Vogt & Alyson van Raalte & Pavel Grigoriev & Mikko Myrskylä, 2017. "The German East-West Mortality Difference: Two Crossovers Driven by Smoking," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(3), pages 1051-1071, June.
    17. Rubén Castro, 2011. "Introducing an analysis of fertility recuperation and its first empirical findings about Europeans’ fertility," Working Papers 21, Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad Diego Portales.
    18. Laura Bernardi & Andreas Klärner & Holger von der Lippe, 2006. "Perceptions of job instability and the prospects of parenthood. A comparison between Eastern and Western Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-017, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    19. Klemm, Marcus, 2012. "Job Security and Fertility: Evidence from German Reunification," Ruhr Economic Papers 379, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    20. Jan Skopek & Thomas Leopold, 2020. "Educational Reproduction in Germany: A Prospective Study Based on Retrospective Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1241-1270, August.
    21. Sebastian Schnettler & Sebastian Klüsener, 2013. "Economic stress or random variation? Revisiting german reunification as a natural experiment to investigate the effect of economic contraction on sex ratios at birth," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2013-005, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    22. Ursula Henz, 2008. "Gender roles and values of children: Childless Couples in East and West Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(39), pages 1451-1500.
    23. Rees, Ray & Scholz, Sebastian, 2010. "Optimal Fertility Decisions in a Life Cycle Model," Discussion Papers in Economics 11316, University of Munich, Department of Economics.

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