Changing employment patterns of women in Germany: How do baby boomers differ from older cohorts? A comparison using sequence analysis

In the present study, we examine employment biographies of women using the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Specifically, we compare the cohort of the baby boomers (1956–1965) with two older cohorts (1936–1945 and 1946–1955) by carrying out sequence analyses to investigate changes in their employment careers. Based on the biography sequences, we consider four different clusters to identify typical employment patterns of the three cohorts. Results show that women's careers have changed in the sense that there is an increase in the proportion of discontinuous careers and a decrease in the percentage of women with a continuous full time employment biography. At the same time, part time employment biographies gain in relevance and housewife biographies become less common. Within all types of employment patterns, the degree of plurality rises and biographies become more inhomogeneous in the sense that the number of transitions as well as the number of different states increases.Regarding the specific developments in West and East Germany, results show that on the one hand both regions are growing more alike in the sense that the high percentage of women primarily in full time employment dominated careers in East Germany has dropped and the percentage of housewife biographies in West Germany has decreased. On the other hand, there are still relevant differences between the employment patterns of West and East German women: West German women are still much more likely to experience a housewife biography, and part time work is much more relevant for women in West Germany. East German women still have to a large degree full time employment oriented biographies, but in East Germany in particular, there is a distinct trend towards discontinuous and de-standardized careers.