German Unity? The Part-time Gap is Closing at a Snail's Pace

In the GDR and the FRG, at the time of reunification, women's labor force participation and average paid weekly working hours were particularly unequal. From 1999 to 2019, the gap between the female labor force in East and West Germany narrowed from the original 11.5 percentage points to 4 percentage points. In addition, the gap in the labor force participation of women and men has further narrowed from 14 percentage points to 8 percentage points. With regard to paid weekly working hours, an alignment of two working hours between East and West women and one hour between women and men can be observed.