Attitudes toward gender emancipation and family formation patterns in EEC region

Ausra Maslauskaite, Demographic Research Center, Lithuania
Vlada Stankuniene, Demographic Research Center, Lithuania

Gender emancipation was among the leading factors in the emergence of the modern family formation pattern in “old Europe”, whereas in the countries of “new Europe” the connection between these two processes remains ambiguous. Though the CEE region experiences dramatic changes in the family formation, the impact of gender emancipation process, which in one way or another is proliferating, is still negotiable. On the general level this is determined by the Soviet modernization, which in the second half of the 20th century stimulated throughout the region very rapid gender emancipation in public institutions and hindered the gender emancipation in the private sphere. Structural emancipation, which resulted in the growing numbers of working women and women in education, was not accompanied by cultural emancipation, which reshapes gender system and has deep impact on family forms and structures. The radical societal changes after the 1990’s on the one hand worsened female’s structural positions, but in general created more favourable conditions for the cultural gender emancipation, on the other hand. We argue that despite these general trends, the CEE region is not homogenous in regard to gender emancipation and its impact on changes in family formation pattern. Comparing the interconnections of gender emancipation and changes in family formation pattern on the attitudinal level for Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Eastern Germany, the specifics for each country could be distinguished. In one of them the connection of gender emancipation and modern family formation pattern is observed. Yet in the others, emancipational gender attitudes are interconnected with the traditional family formation patterns. The analysis is conducted using the PPA survey data (international DIALOG project) to inquire into the attitudes toward gender, family formation and to trace the types of connections between gender and family formation.