Switching location—shifting mindset? The attitude towards female employment of East–West migrants in Germany

Abstract The strong migration of former East German residents to the western part of Germany opens a unique way to study the impact of migration modifying gender-related attitudes towards division of labor. While in West Germany more traditional gender attitudes have been prevailing for decades, the East pursued more progressive attitudes regarding the home and labor domain. However, attitudes of East-to-West migrants are mostly unknown. Thus, this article aims at providing a first analysis regarding differing attitudes between domestic migrants and non-movers. Data from the German General Social Surveys (GGSS/ALLBUS) from 1992, 2004, and 2016, including 2428, 2099, and 1486 participants, respectively, were used. Group differences between permanent residents from West Germany (West–West) and from East Germany (East–East) as well as East-to-West migrants were estimated. Pooled regressions were conducted to predict the attitudes towards female employment. East–West migrants’ respective attitudes differed from both of the other groups. However, they were more similar to the more traditional West–West group than the more progressive East–East group. Furthermore, East–West migrants who had lived longer in the West exhibited more traditional attitudes than those who had lived there <10 years. Further, the diversity of East-to-West migrants was acknowledged by observing the year of migration (before 1961, 1961–1989, after 1989) which showed that those who migrated before the erection of the Berlin Wall were more traditional. The finding that East–West migrants’ attitudes were more similar to their place of residence, while the duration of residence was positively associated with the traditional attitude towards female employment prevalent in the West, gives impetus to further research attitudes of domestic migrants. Future research should test whether a selection effect or assimilation cause East–West migrants’ attitudes to resemble their society of residence.