Parent-child relations in East and West Germany shortly after the fall of the wall

This paper addresses the perceived closeness of the relation between East and West German adult children and their parents who no longer live in the same household. The empirical analyses are based on the German Socio‐Economic Panel (GSOEP). They show that East German family relations are closer than West German relations. Regarding the causes for closer or weaker relations for East and West Germans there are both similarities and differences. For example, the empirical analyses indicate differences regarding the importance of standard of living, birth cohort, and religion.

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