Is it all just structure?

A comparison of subjective and objective life situations in East and West Germany

infas has been collecting the ilex, an index based on subjective assessments of individual life situations, since 2007. With this long duration, a comprehensive data basis of around 45,000 interviews is available. It enables differentiated analyses for individual population groups, but also precise regional distinctions. This raises the question of what answers the ilex can provide in the context of the current debate about East and West German sensitivities – and how justified this dividing line actually is.

First of all, it should be noted that the analyses are based on an east-west allocation of the respondent’s current municipality of residence and not on the regional socialization background. This was not recorded in the ilex program. However, it is possible to identify both differences and similarities – and sometimes to recognize more convergence and similarities than differences.

In line with expectations, there are differences in the subjective living situation between western and eastern German states. These are greater than differences between northern and southern Germany, for example. What is surprising is that these differences have hardly changed in the almost 20 ilex years. In addition, the survey results show a pronounced dependence on objectively measured infrastructural characteristics of the regions in which the respondents live: The higher proportions of “left behind” regions in eastern Germany are responsible for a large part of the different subjective assessment in east and west. If these proportions were the same, the subjective differences in living conditions would be significantly reduced, but would not disappear completely. Independent of this, different sensitivities would remain.

This finding raises the question of a more precise description. Differentiation and consideration help here, as numerous perspectives and effects are intermingled. Generational effects, a kind of eastern migration background – with a question mark – and a variety of possible west-east and east-west migrations over more than three decades require more than just a research-based swim on the surface. The simple East-West cliché is too superficial.

What’s in the ilex: your own economic situation, perceived satisfaction and opportunities for participation

To begin the analysis, the central characteristics summarized in the ilex will first be presented in the East-West distinction. They show which answers of the respondents result in higher or lower values on the life situation scale. The characteristics used are all subjective indicators. They include the respondent’s own assessment of participation, satisfaction with their own life situation, a classification of individual opportunities in various areas of life in comparison to other people and an assessment of their own economic situation in the past, present and future. A bundle of characteristics is therefore taken into consideration, the characteristics of which may be strongly influenced by the individual environment in relation to other milieus or population groups. Participation and perceived equality of opportunity are important keywords here.

Key characteristics were selected for the first chart. The East German values are almost consistently lower than their West German counterparts. This applies to the feeling of participation as well as to assessments of the current and future economic and personal situation. The differences are not considerable, but are largely systematic. Only in the assessment of the previous personal economic situation and the high self-assessment on a top-bottom scale in relation to one’s own social status are the proportions approximately the same.

Shares of life situation segments in East and West permanently different

The characteristics subsumed in the ilex can be grouped and viewed over time. In this way, the three life situation segments low, medium and high can be formed. Based on the relationships between these, the east-west differences can be robustly tracked over time. This reveals a remarkable stability. In western Germany, the upper segment is consistently larger, while the lower segment is always smaller than in eastern Germany. What is even more remarkable is that no convergence can be seen over time. The gaps remain surprisingly stable for the most part. At best, a slight trend in favor of the upper life situation group can be observed, but in both western and eastern Germany.

However, this small increase on both sides does not change the finding that in western Germany, the high life situation segment is permanently larger than the lower segment and that the reverse is also true in the eastern German states. Although the middle dominates in both East and West, the most striking difference is the varying size of the margins.

Independent characteristic values of the life situation segments from the socio-demographic area

This leads to the question of the socio-demographic composition of the life situation segments. If selected characteristics such as age and phase of life, household and employment situation as well as level of education, religious affiliation and a few other characteristics are used as indicators, the following results emerge:

• In terms of age, there is no difference between East and West with regard to the life situation segments. The average age in both the lower and middle segments is around 52 years. In the upper segment, it is around two years lower – with no significant changes over time, except for a slight increase in age over the years in the top group.
• In terms of household type and phase of life, no significant differences can be seen along the east-west line within the ilex segments either. In all three groups, the proportion of senior households is always between 25 and 30 percent, while people in households with children account for around 25 percent. Purely adult households over 30 and under 65 years of age consistently rank at one third. Even younger households are also uniformly at around one tenth – in the west at a share of 12 percent and in the east at eight percent, an effect of the migration-related shift in the age structure in eastern Germany.
• The proportion of employed persons in the life situation groups is also similar in East and West. From the lowest to the highest life situation segment, it increases from 50 percent to 66 percent over time.
• In terms of education, the higher the life situation segment in both the western and eastern German federal states, the higher the proportion of formally high educational qualifications. For example, the proportion of those in the low life situation group in both east and west is around 15 percent, compared to around 50 percent in the high life situation group.
• The opposite is true in the middle and lower life situation segments in both East and West. Here, the proportion of formally lower educational qualifications is higher in the West – although comparability is limited in older cohorts due to the different school systems.
• Religious affiliation, however pronounced, also makes a significant contribution to explaining the characteristics of the ilex. This applies to both East and West, despite different proportions of religious affiliation. The difference between respondents with and without religious affiliation is two ilex points in both western and eastern Germany.
• There are also differences when economic status is used as an individual characteristic. We calculate this using a grouped per capita household equivalent income. Here, there is a greater correlation between a good living situation and a good economic situation in western Germany than in eastern Germany. However, this is not pronounced: In the high living situation segment, 30 percent of respondents in the west fall into the highest of three economic groups, compared to 24 percent in the east.

This descriptive representation is confirmed in a multivariate test in a regression model. Age, education, occupation, household status and family ties, denominational affiliation and economic situation explain around 20 percent of the variance in the life situation index in both East and West. The economic situation has the strongest explanatory power, just ahead of the level of education, followed by family involvement and, at some distance, (lower) age. Gender, a migration background and political views are less powerful explanatory factors. The bottom line is that subjective life situations according to the ilex construct are not insignificantly dependent on the socio-demographic factors used, but also not to a dominant extent – neither in the “old” nor in the “new” federal states. Further explanations must therefore be sought in order to understand the level differences between East and West in the perception of living conditions.

Subjective life situations are also dependent on objective environmental conditions

If the subjective living situation classification by the ilex is viewed in the context of objective infrastructure features, differences between eastern and western Germany are more than obvious. There is a clear disparity, particularly in the eastern German states, as the figure on infrastructure classification shows. In the areas with the worst infrastructure, the living situation index is also low. In eastern Germany, a third of respondents in these regions (marked with – -) fall into the lower living situation segment. And in the second infrastructure level from the bottom (-) it is a quarter. In western Germany, the proportion here is only around one fifth.

In order to carry out these evaluations, the degree to which German municipalities, districts and independent cities are “left behind” was determined. It ranges from very strongly dependent (- -) to very well positioned (++) municipalities. The classification is based on three specially created sub-dimensions (local supply and public transport quality as well as purchasing power per inhabitant). The quality of local amenities includes the accessibility of basic stores, healthcare provision and the proximity of educational facilities. The result is shown at municipality level in the following maps. The lighter an area is colored, the less dependent a municipality is.

For orientation purposes, we have also mapped the summarized ilex results for the years 2007 to 2024 in addition to this map. Here, the higher spatial aggregate by administrative districts and independent cities was selected, as the ilex case numbers do not allow a comprehensive differentiation by municipality. However, the minimum available number of cases by district is 50 interviews per area, which allows at least an approximate classification.

Both indicators show the described west-east divide. Although there are dark-colored areas in both eastern and western Germany, the poorer performance of the five eastern German states is clear in both maps. If the previously presented multivariate analysis of explanatory factors for the ilex characteristics using socio-demographic variables is combined in a model that includes regional indicators such as “dependency”, the correlation between the two dimensions is confirmed. They increase the explanatory power, particularly in eastern Germany. However, there is still a significant residual variance that has not been explained. There are therefore still other factors at play.

Rather left behind in terms of care in eastern Germany: the consequences and an experiment

The maps showing the regional quality of life and the distribution of “left behind” municipalities make it clear that the east performs less well than the west in terms of the selected characteristics. This is confirmed when the ilex respondents are assigned the regional quality of life of their place of residence and the resulting ratio of the five infrastructure levels in eastern and western Germany is compared at the respondent level. While over 50 percent of respondents in the eastern German states fall into one of the two lower infrastructure segments, this figure is just 15 percent in western Germany. Conversely, half of the population there belongs to the two best infrastructure types. In eastern Germany, the figure is only 13% (all allocations still exclude Berlin).

Inspired by this result, it can be assumed in a kind of life situation experiment that the less favorable eastern German ilex results are also due to these objective structural differences or more pronounced dependency. If an equal distribution of infrastructure types were to be mathematically established, i.e. if a data-experimental level regulation of infrastructure provision were to be maintained in eastern Germany, this would result in an average ilex plus of around 2.5 points on the 100-point ilex scale. West Germany’s lead of around five index points would be halved, and the whole-number rounded West-East mean values in the ilex would be 59 and 57 instead of 59 and 55. The message that can be read from this with all due caution would be twofold: the differences in infrastructure are not without consequences and are responsible for some of the subjectively poorer perceived participation in East Germany, but not completely. In the event of equalization, a smaller but still significant difference would remain.

This is also reflected in the results of the regression analysis when the region types are controlled for. Significant, explanatory individual variables such as the level of education, the economic situation or the family involvement of the respondents have an influence independent of the objectively measured regional dependency of the place in which someone lives. As the regression with an explanation of variance of around 20 percent shows – as shown – good, but not outstanding, clarification, three conclusions can be drawn:

• Socio-demographics and economic prosperity play a role in determining subjective life situations and participation, but they are not everything.
• Regional structural disadvantages influence the subjective living situation, particularly in eastern Germany, but are also not solely responsible for poorer results in this respect.
• Despite the explanatory contributions outlined above, it is therefore necessary to look for other factors that shape the ilex, particularly in eastern Germany. These are likely to be relatively stable both in terms of content and over time. This is supported by the result presented here of the lack of convergence between East and West in the ilex.

ilex values and structure of East and West also differ according to urban-rural region types

The classification of content according to the degree of “dependency” is one factor. Another is east-west differences in the relationship between formally urban and rural areas. This should also be briefly considered to round off the analysis. The urban-rural distinction can be illustrated, for example, using a subdivision according to the 5-point classification of the regional statistical RegioStaR classification.

The corresponding diagram shows the population shares in the respective types in eastern and western Germany. The mean ilex values are added to the lines. The east-west view shows only very slight ilex differences for urban areas. These only become significant in more rural areas. Proportionately more people live in eastern Germany than in western Germany. The planned equalization experiment can therefore be repeated here. With the similar result that part of the ilex difference can be attributed to this structural difference.

Conclusions, necessary relativizations and thoughts on further analyses

In his latest publication “Ungleich vereint” (Unequally united), Steffen Mau suspects several interacting mechanisms with regard to the many differences between East and West that can still be observed. He includes long-term differences in mentality and experience due to socialization, a lack of willingness in East Germany to come to terms with the effects of the GDR past and one’s own responsibility and life story, as well as growing fears of change, not only but especially “in the East”, in view of the many challenges with and after reunification. In his opinion, this results in a difference between East and West Germany that is difficult to overcome and will remain effective for a long time to come.
The results presented here so far also point in this direction. In the almost two decades it covers, the life situation index is always lower in the East. Moreover, the gap measured in this way is not narrowing. On the one hand. On the other hand, social structures are always multi-layered, dynamic despite their stability and not predictable in all facets. Without claiming to be exhaustive, we would therefore like to provide some further details here:

• Is the East-West distinction even the right perspective? As mentioned at the beginning, differences along this dividing line are greater than a north-south divide, for example. However, as shown, they are at least partly due to infrastructural disadvantages and settlement structure conditions.
• At the same time, there will be equally prosperous regions in both East and West that are more similar in their situation than the average results suggest – and thus also those from constructs such as the ilex. The city of Jena, for example, can presumably represent such an “eastern exception”.
• The East-West differentiation is also difficult because numerous internal migrations have taken place in the more than 30 years since reunification – and not just in one direction and once, but for at least some citizens in a “back and forth”, so to speak. This gives rise to diverse and analytically distinct patterns of experience that defy a simple East-West distinction. The approach of the place of residence principle pursued here in the article is therefore only one of several possible approaches. A kind of “eastern migration background” should also be investigated, i.e. in eastern Germany the distinction between respondents whose parents and/or they themselves grew up in these federal states during the GDR era or shortly afterwards, or who attribute such an influence to themselves. This has already begun in some publications.
• Migration not only leads to a complex mix of experiences, but also to a simply higher proportion of older citizens, especially in rural and “left behind” areas of eastern Germany. This will also have an impact on valuations.
• In addition to age, this also includes structural differences resulting from other specific migrations, such as gender or education.
• Finally, with regard to Steffen Maus’ analytically stimulating thesis of a consolidation of the differences, the question arises as to how the development will continue. Will the stability documented in the ilex remain without any real convergence or will the observed gap (still) be reduced?

To summarize and take a step back, this raises the question of how significant the differences actually are in the end. In all analyses of the differences, we should not lose sight of the fact that there may be more the same than different. This would also be worth analyzing.

Read more:
Mau, S. (2024): Unequally united. Why the East remains different. Suhrkamp Verlag.
Heller, A., Dilling, M., Kiess, J., Brähler, E. (2022): Authoritarianism in a socio-economic context. A multi-level analysis of the regional distribution of authoritarian attitudes in Germany. In: Authoritarian dynamics in uncertain times. New challenges – old reactions? Leipzig Authoritarianism Study 2022, edited by Decker, O., Kiess, J., Heller, J. and Brähler, E., Gießen, Psychosozialer Verlag 2022, pp. 161 – 184.
Foroutan, F., Simon, M. and Zajak, S. (2023): Who is actually East German here, and if so, how many? On the construction, impact and implication of eastern identities, DeZIM Research Notes #15, October 2023.
Data on the infas Living Conditions Index:
www.infas.de/lebenslagenindex

This article was first published in Lagemaß 14 “wählen”.