Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/196710 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12212
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Using the 41-year division of Germany as a natural experiment, we show that the GDR's gender-equal institutions created a culture that has undone the male breadwinner norm and its consequences. Since reunification, East Germany still differs from West Germany not only by a higher female contribution to household income, but also because East German women can earn more than their husbands without having to increase their number of housework hours, put their marriage at risk or withdraw from the labor market. By contrast, the norm of higher male income, and its consequences, are still prevalent in West Germany.
Subjects: 
gender norms
culture
institutions
German division
family
housework
divorce
labor market
JEL: 
D13
I31
J16
P51
Z1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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