From the Heroes of Work to the New Underclass?

Complete German Version (PDF, 4.63 MB)

A new study of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development analyses causes and consequences of young women leaving the new German states: the regions are becoming poorer – socially, economically and demographically. A portion of the men who stayed behind have formed a new underclass.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, over 1.5 million people left their old hometowns in the new German states — approximately 10 percent of the population at the end of the GDR era. Particularly people who were young, qualified and female left in large numbers. Among 18- to 29-year-olds the proportion of young women is small, especially in remote, economically weak and structurally weak regions. Accordingly, there is an excess of men in these regions of 25 percent or more. These deficits of women cannot be found anywhere else in Europe. Even Arctic Circle regions of Northern Sweden and Finland, which have long suffered from the migration to cities of young women in particular, do not have figures that compare to those of East Germany.

The authors of the study Male Emergency see educational advancement as the main reason for young women’s disproportionate migration: the higher achievement of female pupils that can be observed throughout Germany is much more evident in the East — particularly in its economically weak areas. Since young women have better school reports to show for themselves than their male counterparts, they have an easier time finding training or job opportunities in other places.

The consequences for the affected regions are much greater than the loss of female inhabitants alone. Due to female migration, the new German states lack around 100,000 children. The migration of young women is also accelerating the process of economic and social erosion. While girls already prepare themselves for possible migration at a later time through high achievement, boys fall behind more–probably because they let themselves be discouraged further by the unemployment among the surplus of young men that is common in their environment.

You can view the german version of the complete study here (PDF, 4.63 MB).

For questions and interviews Dr. Reiner Klingholz can be reached at + 49 30 31017560.