This book investigates how educational expansion, the trend towards theservice society and the German unification affect East and West Germanwomen's life courses and family lives. It focuses on educational enrolment,educational attainment level, labour force participation, career resources,social origin, the educational match among partners as well as historicalperiods and examines their consequences on women's entry into first motherhoodas well as partnership formation and dissolution processes. Usinglongitudinal data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS),multivariatemethods such as event history analysis were applied. The findingssuggest that women's entry into motherhood during full-time educationis highly dependent on women's age, social origin and the policy measuresin a country.

Dr. Gwendolin Josephine Blossfeld, Postdoc, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg

1 Introduction1.1 Contributions of the Book1.2 Outline of the Book1.3 The Life Course Perspective1.4 The Historical Developments of Women's Roles in Germany and Changes in Family Formation and Dissolution1.4.1 The Preindustrial Family in Early 19th-Century Germany1.4.2 The German Family in the Second Half of the 19th Century1.4.3 The Age at First Marriage and the Birth of a First Child in the 20th Century1.4.4 The Development of Female Employment Between 1882 and 19801.4.5 The Gain in Importance of Part-Time Employment Since the 1960s1.4.6 Marriage, Birth, and Divorce Patterns of Women in East and West Germany1.4.7 Summary1.5 A Longitudinal Approach1.6 The National Educational Panel Study (NEPS)1.7 Event History Analysis2 Living Arrangements and the Birth of a First Child in the Early Life Course: A Description Based on NEPS2.1 Sequences of Partnership States Over the Early Life Course in East and West Germany2.2 The Proportion of Women Who Have Ever Married Over the Life Course in East and West Germany2.3 Women's Partnership Status at First Birth and the Proportion of Childless Women2.4 Summary63 Entry Into First Cohabitation or First Marriage: A Longitudinal Analysis3.1 Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses3.1.1 Union Formation Processes and Educational Expansion3.1.2 Union Formation and the Two Germanys Before and After German Unification3.1.3 Further Important Factors Influencing First Union Formation3.2 Definition of Variables3.3 Results3.4 Summary of Empirical Findings4 Transition From Cohabitation to Marriage: Does the Meaning of Cohabitation Differ in East and West Germany4.1 Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses4.1.1 The Meaning of Cohabitation4.1.2 Different Dimensions of Time in the Analysis of Cohabitation4.1.3 The Two Germanies Before and After Unification4.1.4 Long-Term Change in Social Norms4.2 Definition of Variables4.3 Results4.3.1 Descriptive Overview4.3.2 Multivariate Analysis4.4 Summary of Empirical Findings5 Educational Homophily, Educational Homogamy, and the Impact of Mothers' Role Models on Daughters' Cohabitation and Marriage5.1 Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses5.1.1 Educational Assortative Mating: Do Opposites Attract or Does Like Marry Like?5.1.2 Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Roles5.1.3 Further Differences in Assortative Mating5.2 Definition of Variables5.3 Results5.4 Summary of Empirical Findings6 What Influences the Rate of Entry Into First Motherhood for Women Enrolled in Full-Time Education?6.1 Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses6.1.1 Cohort Differentiation and German Unification6.1.2 Life Course Approach: Normative Timing and Normative Sequencing of Events6.1.3 New Home Economics6.1.4 Social Background6.1.5 The Two Germanies Before and After Unification1236.2 Definition of Variables6.3 Results6.3.1 Descriptive Overview6.3.2 Model Estimation6.4 Summary of Empirical Findings7 How Do Women's Educational Enrolment, Educational Attainment Level, Labor Force Participation, and Career Advancement Affect the Rate of Entry Into First Motherhood?7.1 Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses7.1.1 Life Course Approach: Normative Sequencing of Events and Fertility Pressure7.1.2 Economic Perspectives: Forms of Investment and Employment7.1.3 The Two Germanies Before and After Unification7.1.4 Age Dependency, Social Origin, and Marriage7.2 Definition of Variables7.3 Results7.3.1 Descriptive Overview7.3.2 Model Estimation7.4 Summary of Empirical Findings88 Educational Assortative Mating and Divorce8.1 Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses8.1.1 Women Marrying Up8.1.2 Educational Expansion and Assortative Mating8.1.3 Dimensions of Education8.1.4 A Comparison of Divorce Between Women in Upward, Downward, and Homogamous Marriages8.1.5 Further Differences in Marital Instability8.1.6 Definition of Variables8.1.7 Results8.1.8 Summary of Empirical Findings9 Conclusion9.1 Central Findings9.2 Implications of Research9.