[Reversal of trends--or change of attitudes? Attitudes on marriage and parenthood of 18- to 28-year-old German women in 1978 and 1983]

Changing attitudes toward marriage consensual unions and family formation in the Federal Republic of Germany are analyzed using data from surveys carried out in 1978 and 1983 among German women aged 18-28. Each survey included 1000 women in first marriages and 1000 single women. The findings which reveal clear differences between the two birth cohorts indicate increasing acceptance of consensual unions and a decreasing tendency to marry; however they also indicate a trend toward a more pro-natalist orientation. A comparison with data from a longitudinal study "suggests that the differences between the women interviewed in 1978 and those interviewed in 1983 are less cohort-specific but rather due to external factors of the social context which gained significance between the spring of 1982 and the autumn of 1983." (summary in ENG FRE) (EXCERPT)