Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/child-care-without-walls-an-east-berlin-update-east-german-cover-director-revisited/5008405/
Approximately two years ago, Exchange (June 1990) described numerous changes occurring in East Berlin as the Berlin Wall fell. This child care update is based on visits to Berlin in October 1990 (the month of German reunification) and in 1991, as well as telephone conversations with German child care specialists in early 1992. We'll look at the impact of reunification from the viewpoint of three child care experts from (East) Berlin, two of whom were featured in the original article.Employment in Former East Germany
Real reunification did not occur overnight; and it is a process that is proving to be expensive, sometimes difficult, and one that will take many years to complete. The process has affected millions throughout Europe, but most significantly the Germans themselves. One example of the difficulty of reunification is surging unemployment, which may exceed 1.5 million people. Under Communism in what was formerly East Germany, every worker was guaranteed a job for life. To reduce unemployment, the government of what was formerly West Germany enacted legislation entitled "Make-Work Provisions" to provide one to three year temporary positions. It is common in (East) Berlin for workers to believe that (West) Berliners discriminate ...