Außerhäusliche Kinderbetreuung in Ostdeutschland vor und nach der Wiedervereinigung. Ein Vergleich mit Westdeutschland in den Jahren 1990-1999

This paper provides first a concise overview of institutional day-care arrangements and their extent in the former GDR. Then institutional and infrastructural changes since German re-unification in 1990 are briefly discussed. In the empirical part, data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for the period 1990 to 1999 are used to analyze the actual day-care situation for children living in eastern Germany. The paper concludes with considerations of the consequences of a changing day-care situation for the opportunities of women (particularly mothers) in the New Länder to participate in the labor force. (AUTHORS)