Eastern Germany
We ain't got dames
Jun 28th 2007 | BERLIN
From The Economist print edition
Young layabouts suffer a drought
A NEW disease is abroad in eastern Germany: Frauenmangel, lack of women. In some towns there are only 75 young women for every 100 young men. In one or two there are as few as 40. The effects are worrying, not only because populations may shrink but also because of the existence of a growing underclass of young men who are partnerless, underqualified and jobless.
A study by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development has looked at Herzberg and Ebersbach, two small towns in eastern Germany. ?Even the mayor of Ebersbach hadn't realised this is going on,? says Reiner Klingholz, the institute's director. It is a vicious spiral.
Girls are more studious than boys, so they get better qualified and migrate west to find both partners and jobs. The boys lack role models at home, where fathers are often unemployed, and at school, where teachers are mostly female. Young men now account for 65% of German high-school dropouts.
The few women who stay prefer single parenthood to hitching themselves to useless partners?benefits for single mothers are generous. It is women who are now masters of their destinies. The study, which combines reportage with figures, tells of frustrated gangs of youths drinking outside supermarkets and sleeping on their loading ramps.
What can be done? Eastern Germany is now a laboratory for the rest of Europe, says Mr Klingholz, since other places are starting to see the same phenomenon. Better education is the key. ?We have to take the risk that the young men will then emigrate too,? he says. At least they will find jobs more easily. The federal government wants to identify two ?model regions? where it can spend money on urban renewal and health, education and sports facilities. This smacks of too little too late?it is 17 years since unification. But it is better than the ?watering-can? of sprinkling cash everywhere in hopes that something grows.
The despair shows itself in many ways. The death rate among young men in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, in eastern Germany, is twice as high as in the west's North-Rhine Westphalia, mainly because of road accidents (despite there being fewer cars). And the most fertile ground for the extreme-right NPD is now in places with a shortage of women, not high unemployment.
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