Germany

Abstract

This chapter describes the context of current German family policies with special emphasis on regional differences since unification in 1990. West Germany’s legacy of the strong male breadwinner system and maternalism continues to support a different gendered ‘culture of care’ than that in the East, where the socialist dual earner system has left its mark. The classic Western conservative welfare state recently has incorporated some social-democratic policy features. Both regions now have the same increasingly father-friendly family policies and there is a common public discourse on the desirability of ‘active fatherhood’. However, while data on father involvement with young children reflect somewhat more engagement in the Eastern states and a generally high number of “weekend fathers,” in cross-national comparison Germany boasts relatively low levels of father involvement. This may be due to remaining maternalist traditions and slowly changing workplace cultures.