Living Standards and Women in the FRG

Question 1

How much damage was there to housing after the war? Give 2 figures.

Answer 1

• One-fifth of all housing had been bombed flat
• One-third of all remaining housing was damaged

Question 2

What else put pressure on housing?

Answer 2

• The influx of refugees

Question 3

What 2 steps did the government take to deal with the lack of housing?

Answer 3

• Rents were frozen
• The building industry was given tax concessions to build

Question 4

In what way was the affluence of the FRG evident? Give a figure.

Answer 4

• The widespread ownership of consumer goods
• By the 1980s, more than 95% of households owned items such as washing machines, refrigerators, televisions and telephones

Question 5

Why was the standard of living in the FRG so high when compared to other European countries? How was this possible?

Answer 5

• Low cost of living, caused by:
• low inflation
• restreint in wage demands

Question 6

What economic issue was there throughout the FRG? Give 3 figures.

Answer 6

• Social inequality was a huge problem
• The top 1% owned:
• 35% of the wealth in the 1960s when the economy was at its best
• 78% of the wealth in 1973
• 45% in 1988

Question 7

Give 3 issues that women faced after the war, and include figures.

Answer 7

• In 1948 , there were 7.3 million more women than men
• Women did all sorts of work from clearing rubble to office work due to the lack of men and the amount of work that needed to be done
• The divorce rate was increasing (in 1948, it was 80% higher than in 1946)

Question 8

How much support did women have within the Bundestag? Give 5 details.

Answer 8

• The CDU tended to prefer for women to remain in traditional roles
• The SPD supported women having equal rights
• The SPD’s support was somewhat limited as its support came from male-dominated trade unions
• In the 1980s, women’s rights became a big issue as the Green Party emerged
• Even in 1987, women only made up 15% of the Bundestag

Question 9

What was the legal position of women like in 1949?

Answer 9

• According to the Basic Law, all citizens had ‘equality under the law’
• However, the Civil Code still hadn’t been changed

Question 10

Give 2 parts of the Civil Code that prevented women from having equal rights to men.

Answer 10

• Married women needed their husband’s permission to go to work
• Husbands got full control over their wives’ property after marriage

Question 11

How did the government tend to help women? Give an example.

Answer 11

• They helped them in their role as wife and mother
• They set up the Ministry for Family Affairs in 1953 to provide wives and mothers with financial benefits

Question 12

In what aspect of life were women discriminated against the most? What were social attitudes about this like?

Answer 12

• Employment
• In 1982, 70% of men and women thought men should work and women should take care of the home

Question 13

How did Adenauer feel about women working?

Answer 13

• He made speeches about the importance of more jobs being made available to women, and for them to have equal working conditions to men

Question 14

When did women most visibly face discrimination in employment?

Answer 14

• After the war, the government wanted to ease the return of military personnel into the war, and so encouraged women to return to traditional roles

Question 15

How, when and why did the number of women working increase?

Answer 15

• 6% increase between 1950 and 1970
• The shortage of labour during the economic miracle

Question 16

What law was passed that increased women’s rights? Describe 2 aspects and 1 limitation of it.

Answer 16

• The 1977 Marriage and Family Law gave women equal rights in marriage
• It also overturned the Civil Code law so that women could work, but only if this didn’t interfere with their role as a wife and mother

Question 17

When were women’s liberation movements active in the FRG?

Answer 17

• 1960s and 1970s

Question 18

What was one group set up as part of the women’s liberation movement? Give an example of their work, and how effective they were.

Answer 18

• In 1968, the Action Council of Women’s Liberation
• It set up day-care centres
• By 1969 the group split as it wasn’t doing enough for women outside the family

Question 19

Other than employment, what was another issue that more radical and women-focused groups focused on?

Answer 19

• Abortion rights

Question 20

What rules had Germany previously had in place in regards to abortion?

Answer 20

• Paragraph 218 of the German Penal Code made it illegal for women to get an abortion unless they had strong medical reasons

Question 21

Describe a high-profile example of protest against Paragraph 218.

Answer 21

• The journalist Alice Schwarzer put the photos of 30 women on the cover of the Stern magazine with the title ‘We’ve had abortions!’

Question 22

How much of a change was made to laws against abortion? List 3 events.

Answer 22

• In 1971, Brandt introduced an abortion law
• However, the Federal Constitutional Law declared it illegal
• In 1976, the Indication Law was passed, which allowed abortion within the first 12 weeks based on ‘social indicators’- a compromise that didn’t please anyone