FRG - Women Flashcards
Describe how many women were represented in the Reichstag in the FRG
- Few women were involved in politics; Many of those who did had been politically active before 1933
- There were only four women on the parliamentary council which drew up the Basic Law for the FRG in 1949
- Elizabeth Selbert (SPD) failed to acquire an unconditional gender equality clause in the Basic Law.
Women also only made up …… of the Bundestag in 1972 and ….% in 1987
- Women also only made up 5.8% of the Bundestag in 1972 and 15.4% in 1987
What was a change in the opportunities for women in politics
- Women found more political opportunities with the Green party rather than the SPD or CDU/CSU
- Green party focused on issues like abortion
How were basic rights of women sort of chnaged under the Lander
- Article 3 of the Basic Law guaranteed unqualified “equality under the law” for all citizens
- People could be disciminated against via the Lander, but protection is sort of underlying throughout society
How were women explicitly discriminated aginst under law
- There was still certain legislation in the Basic Law which explicitly discriminated against women.
- E.g. The 1950 provisional Federal Republic Law included a clause on celibacy for female public officials.
Franz Josef Wuermeling, the minister for family affairs argued in 1961 that mothers going to work was a ‘………’.
forced evil
- In a 1982 survey, …% of men and …% of women believed that a man’s career was more important than his wife’s
- …..% of men and women believed that men should work and women should care for the home.
- In a 1982 survey, 50% of men and 54% of women believed that a man’s career was more important than his wife’s
- 70% of men and women believed that men should work and women should care for the home
How did German women help rebuilding after WWII
- Women worked to help rebuild the German economy due to the loss of many able-bodied men
- They partook in clearing rubble, building and office work
How did the implications of motherhood make work difficult for women
- By 1989, the roles of married women were largely defined by family life, which granted motherhood a high status
- Only 50% of married women with a child under 15 living at home had a paid job, and half of these were part-time
- School hours meant that women needed to be at home in the afternoon if they had no childcare
How did marriage restrict women in the workplace
- Politicians recognised the need to revise the Civil Code of 1900 to give women legal freedom, but this did not happen until 1958
- Before this, married women still needed their husband’s permission to go to work, and the husband got full control of the women’s property on marriage
A shortage of labour in the 1950s saw women’s employment increase from …% in 1950 to …% by 1970.
A shortage of labour in the 1950s saw women’s employment increase from 44% in 1950 to 50% by 1970.
- Women’s pay for full-time employment was still ……. lower than that of men
- Most married women had …………….. their employment for family reasons
- Only …….% had worked without career breaks
- Moreover few women were in managerial roles - for e.g. …. of women were school teachers
- but only …..% were principals
- Women’s pay for full-time employment was still one-third lower than that of men
- Most married women had** interrupted** their employment for family reasons
- Only 17% had worked without career breaks
- Moreover few women were in managerial roles - for e.g. half of women were school teachers
- but only 20% were principals
How did the Adenauer view the role of women
- Adenauer spoke about the importance of making more jobs available to women and working conditions more equal, but the government did not make this happen
- and immediately after the war women were encouraged back to the home
How did women react to the booming economy of the FRG
The FRG turned to millions of migrants to satisfy its booming economy’s labour requirements
Women became homemakers and mothers and largely withdrew from employment outside the home
What legislation changed into 1977 affecting married women
- Married women had to wait until 1977 to experience an increased status on society
- Then, the Marriage and Family Law was revised to give women equal rights and shared responsibility in marriage
- The revision also overturned the Civil Code law (1900) which stated that women could only work if it did not interfere with the role as wife and mother
