WOMENS SITUATION ON THE LABOR-MARKET IN R URAL-AREAS OF THE NEW GERMAN LANDER - IT WOULD REQUIRE A MIRACLE TO FIND A NEW JOB

The drastic decrease in the number of jobs in eastern Germany as a res ult of transition from a planned to a social market economy has had es pecially strong effects on employment for the rural population. Women formerly engaged in agriculture from a particular problem group. In fa ct, women are not more strongly affected by the decrease in employment , however it is more difficult for them to re-enter into working life. Their risk of remaining unemployed is relatively high when compared t o men. Therefore gender discrimination is not found in dismissal but i n hiring practices. Strategies of unemployed women to cope with their unemployment differ. In general, there is no indication that women are going to withdraw from working life. A change of value system can onl y be observed in young women. For these women, employment does not (co ntinue to) play a central role in their lives, as it does with their m others. There is no sign that the situation on the eastern German labo ur market will ease in the next few years due to women withdrawing vol untarily from working life. As women's job prospects on the so called ''first'' labour market do not look good for the future - especially i n rural areas -, labour market policy measures are required to improve women's situation on the labour market. In this paper, the gender eff ects of labour market policies are analysed in two Lander: Mecklenburg -Vorpommeren and Brandenburg, in which economic structure is predomina ted by agriculture.