E. Germany: We ain't got dames

The Economist ^ | 6/28/2007

[bruinbirdman]

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.

[Bernard]

Maybe all these young men can take up rap music and end up with lots of money. I look forward to the East German rap version of “Money for nothing, Chicks for free”, with accordions, zithers, and xylophones.

[Atlantic Bridge]

Male life expectancy in Russia is 59 years,considerably lower than it was in the Soviet Union.

Nastrovje!

[Byron_the_Aussie]

Very interesting indeed. Your observations are worthy of a thread on their own.

[NYS_Eric]

Very interesting comments. Thanks for posting.

[CarrotAndStick]

Re #18

That was a very astute observation. Thanks for sharing it here!

[cgbg]

Male life expectancy in Russia is 59 years,considerably lower than it was in the Soviet Union. For women, it is 72 years.

Solution: The UN needs to have another study group on female health issues.

;-)

[heylady]

“Russian chicks are hot!!”

Russian men are hot!!! A few years ago when the Detroit Red Wings had several Russian players,,Hot Hot Hot!!!

[heylady]

I fear many of the younger generation of the US are headed down the path of Government as the Nanny State. A young man I work with is doing his PHD thesis on Sweden. He is a firm believer that the government should take care of our every need. I tried to explain to him that I was the government and I felt he and everyone else should learn to take care of themselves. He was shocked and now feels that I am just mean.

[Atlantic Bridge]

Hehe! If you help yourself than God will help you. This is something even some quite intellectual people do not understand.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I am an American that worked for the US Army in Augsburg from 87-91. I learned much about how backward the DDR was, before and after the fall of the wall. Their cars had engines similar to motorcycles. Many of their autobahns were worse than our country roads here in Georgia. Their people were not used to working. Almost all hated Communism, and wanted what was in the West.
I expected to see the old DDR quickly rise up in a decade or two, especially with a new generation of people raised in a democratic system. It may take longer, but Germany are never down for that long.

[PGalt]

Interesting observation. Thanks for posting.

[Wilhelm Tell]

Interesting observations and very sad. The plight of young men in eastern Germany is similar to the plight of young African-American men in American inner cities. They often do not have positive male role models and they are pretty much left to their own devices. The welfare state seems to have as its main goal to break up families and to make sure these young men never have a chance to achieve anything. Overburdened single women run many households and stable families are not as common as they should be. Some people do break out of the cycle of poverty but the gang culture makes this difficult.

If western Germany survives for another 25 years and does not fall to Islamism or adopt some new form of communism or fascism, them perhaps the westerners will move in to the east and re-populate it. Land might be cheap.

[AnAmericanMother]

Nothing Like a Dame

[Farmer Dean]

Given a choice,women avoid THOSE like the plague.

[org.whodat]

As usual, government is the root of the problem. Restore the incentives for women to marry before having children, and the price for sex for young males will again be responsible behavior.

The government is the problem here but not in that way. Having been raised under socialism is the problem. They want to lay about and get drunk and not work. Few have any concept of self achievement. Same problem we have in the united sates for people on the public dole. And the same problem is all over Russia.

[org.whodat]

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.

Hmmmm... That seems to remind me of something. Sort of a feeling of "deja vu," like I've seen the same thing somewhere else. But where could it have been? I'm sure it will come to me, any moment now...

One more step and you will be off to rehab!

[SauronOfMordor]

here is also a breathtaking decline in population (due to immigration to western Europe and a low fertillity rate of only 1.26 kids/woman),

The problem with the welfare state is that it destroys the family unit. Women who are content to live on welfare, and are subsidized for each child, may have several worthless children, but for the people who have to work and pay taxes for welfare, each child is a huge expense to raise.

The end result is that the productive have few children, and finally the system collapses when there are too few productive citizens to run the economy. In such a collapse, the only older people who will survive are the ones who have had enough productive children to carry them

There is only one solution: abolish the welfare state

[coloradan]

But it is better than the “watering-can” of sprinkling cash everywhere in hopes that something grows.

As an alternative, how about not taking so much of people's money away, merely to sprinkle it around in the hopes of bringing some sort of benefit by doing so?

[mikrofon]

On a personal basis, if you're suffering from a lack of women would that make you a Frauenmangler?

[gcruse]

So where is the offsetting surplus of women and will I need a passport?