GERMANY

Social differences inside the country

GERMANY = synonym of being one of the countries of leading power in Europe

♦ The country has faced sharp divisions after the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989

The divisions between east and west are fading (but are still considerable) because: - business conections - huge investments - infrastructure

Although successful country, but unemployment and immigrations has become German’s biggest problems

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09.11.1989

DIFFERENCES

EASTWEST

- communism - unemployment didn’t exist

- cheap hausing - collectivised farms - state-run companies

- strong sens of family and comunity values

- higher birth rate

- capitalism- unemployment did exist - high economic stability

- high living standard- private farms and companies

- low birth rate

East Germany compared to west Germany today:

Competative pressures (workers are often paid at rates below the nationaly agreed rate)

Lower salaries (92,3% of west German levels), but longer weekly working time (39,1 per week, west Germany=37,4 per week)

Working and living conditions have improved

Unemployment has increased (16,6% east, 7,4% west)

Insufficent people qualified for higher positions

Farms and companies has gone under private ownership

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Migrations (young and qualified people from east to west)

High environmental degradation (huge sums of money for rehabilitation by west Germany)

Dramatic social changes, wich affected birth rates and marriage rates

East German motorist have to switched to using unleaded fuel

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But today …

…the differences between east and west Germans are not not so obvious

anymore, than are the differences between Germans and foreigners, fruthermore German is facing also several other problems concerning

social differences…

Problems and facts:

Immigrations foreigners face social barriers and are blamed for social and economic problems

Fact: THEY MAKE A HUGE CONTRIBUTION TO GERMAN’S ECONOMY

Homeless aproximately there are 860 000 homeless people one million people are under treat of homelessness

Facts: as unemployment rises so does the number of homeless; high cost for hausing are also the couse for homeless