Golden Age of Marriage
Golden Age of Marriage is a term used in family sociology . It refers to the period of the 1950s and 1960s when marriage and the family formed the undisputed institutions of private life in the Federal Republic of Germany .
In this period, compared to the 19th and early 20th centuries, one encounters an almost complete inclusion of the German population in families . The English term Golden Age of Marriage (translated: Golden age of marriage or marriage ) refers to the fact that at least one closed in the two postwar decades, more than 90 percent of women and men within the various vintages marriage. Until the 1960s, children up to 90 per cent lived on school- age with both parents together. The high ranking with which marriage and family were assessed in the 19th century was actually implemented over the historically comparatively short period of two decades.
The Golden Age of Marriage historically marks the period immediately before the start of the New Women's Movement in the Federal Republic of Germany, the 68 movement reached its climax at its end.
Society in the "Golden Age of Marriage"
During this period, women were expected to have a " housewife marriage, " that is, to devote themselves completely to the role of wife and mother . The work of the wife and mother was regarded as incompatible with their tasks in the family, which, according to surveys of the time, corresponded to a central social norm .
The professional decline of married women is clearly shown in studies of the situation of mothers in the 1960s. They did not return to the profession they had learned after having children. If they earned additional earnings on top of the man's income , they took less skilled work. The development was accompanied by the reintroduction of occupational safety measures and work bans for women. Due to the war and the post-war period , women had also gained a foothold in so-called male professions. In the construction industry and in numerous manual and technical occupations, protective measures were anchored that reduced career prospects for women in these areas. Other examples are the ban on conductors in several German cities and the ban on night work for women.
Average German unemployment rate up to 1990 only
West Germany, from 1991 all of Germany.
In 1952, the law for the protection of working mothers was passed, expanding the group of people covered by amendments to the previous laws of 1927 and 1942. The legislature did not exempt women from the obligation to report pregnancy during job interviews and gave employers the right to terminate domestic helpers and day maids after the fifth month of pregnancy (Section 9 (1)). For women who worked as teachers in one of the few academic professions, regional laws provided for leave of absence after the sixth month of pregnancy.
For society as a whole, the withdrawal of women into families was accompanied by an economic upswing (“ economic miracle ”) and so-called full employment in the labor market statistics. In politics, the withdrawal of women from the public space showed a decline in the proportion of women in the German Bundestag from near 10 percent in the late 1950s to a historic low of 5.8 percent even in 1972 after the beginning of the social-liberal era with the chancellorship of Willy Brandt . The general mood in society is also borne out by statements made by women who were politically active in the fight for women's rights at the time, expressing their disappointment with the minimal support of active women and the lack of political interest of the majority of the female population.
literature
- Ingrid Biermann: From difference to equality. Women's movement and politics of inclusion in the 19th and 20th centuries. Transcript , Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8376-1224-0 , pp. 100-102.
- Hartmann Tyrell: Marriage and Family. Institutionalization and deinstitutionalization. In: Kurt Lüscher, Franz Schultheis, Michael Wehrspaun (eds.): The "postmodern" family. Family strategies and family policy in a transitional period. Universitäts-Verlag Konstanz, Konstanz 1988, ISBN 3-87940-313-9 , pp. 145–156.
See also
- Roaring Twenties : Section Social Upheaval
Individual evidence
- ↑ Detlev Lück: The hesitant farewell to patriarchy. The change in gender roles in an international comparison. Edition Sigma, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-89404-567-8 , p. 9.
- ↑ Federal Statistical Office Germany: Unemployed, unemployment rate of all dependent civilian labor force by area (from 1950)
- ↑ Michael F. Feldkamp , Christa Sommer: Parliamentary and election statistics of the German Bundestag 1949-2002 / 03. ( Memento of the original from August 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 125 kB) Published by the German Bundestag Public Relations Department. 1st edition. Berlin 2003, p. 16
- ↑ Birgit Meyer: Women in the men's association. Politicians in leadership positions from the post-war period until today. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt (Main) / New York 1997, ISBN 3-593-35889-1 , p. 331.
