From Old to New Structures: A Long-Term Comparison of the Transition to Adulthood in West and East Germany

This chapter looks at the consequences of political, institutional and market changes for life-course patterns in West and East Germany. It summarizes major institutional changes and developments on the macro level and discusses possible relationships to crucial events which mark the transition to adulthood: leaving education and training, entering the labor market, leaving home and forming unions and families. Empirical analyses draw upon detailed individual-level life-course data from the German Life History Study. The dataset includes birth cohorts between 1919 and 1971 for both West and East Germany and hence covers the historical period for the relevant events between the mid-1930s and the late 1990s.