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East Germany has narrowed economic gap with West Germany since fall of communism, but still lags — A man stands in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin before the start of the celebrations for the 2018 Day of German Unity; he is holding balloons with the event’s slogan — “only with you” — printed on them in German. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago this week brought far-reaching social and economic changes to communist East Germany, and people on both sides of the former barrier say the changes that have occurred since 1989 have had a positive influence on living standards in their country, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. But that does not mean the former East and West Germany are on equal economic footing today.

Despite substantial improvements in recent decades, the former East Germany continues to trail the former West Germany on important economic measures ranging from unemployment to productivity, according to an annual German government report on the “status of German unity.” (The most recent version of the report, from September, is available here in German. The 2018 version of the report is available here in English.)

Here is a look at how economic conditions in the former East and West Germany have changed over time, how they compare today and how people in the two areas perceive these differences. All findings are based on data from the German government’s 2019 report, as well as the Center’s recent survey.

Unemployment is persistently higher in the former East Germany than in the former West. In 2018, the average unemployment rate was 6.9% in the six states of the former East Germany, compared with 4.8% in the 10 states of the former West Germany. (In all economic statistics in this analysis, Berlin is counted in East Germany, even though the city was divided during communism and is not directly comparable to other parts of East Germany.)

East-West differences in unemployment rates cut across demographic lines including age and gender. Among people ages 15 to 24, for example, the average unemployment rate in the former East Germany was 7.7% in 2018, compared with 4.1% in the former West. And while 7.5% of East Germans ages 55 to 64 were unemployed in 2018, the share was 5.3% among West Germans in the same age range.

Despite these differences, the former East has narrowed the gap with the former West substantially in recent decades. In the early 2000s, the unemployment rate was about 10 percentage points higher in the former East than in the former West – nearly five times the gap in 2018. Read More →

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Western Europe World Economies Europe

By Nikki Graf

As marriage rates have declined, the share of U.S. adults who have ever lived with an unmarried partner has risen. Amid these changes, most Americans find it acceptable for unmarried couples to live together, even for those who don’t plan to get married, according to a new Pew Research Center study. Still, a narrow majority sees societal benefits in marriage. The study also explores the experiences of adults who are married and those who are living with a partner, finding that married adults express higher levels of relationship satisfaction and trust in their partner than do those who are cohabiting.

Here are seven key findings from the report:

1 A larger share of adults have cohabited than have been married. Among adults ages 18 to 44, 59% have lived with an unmarried partner at some point in their lives, while 50% have ever been married, according to Pew Research Center analysis of the National Survey of Family Growth. By contrast, in 2002, 54% of adults in this age group had ever cohabited and 60% had ever married. Most adults ages 18 to 44 who have cohabited (62%) have only ever lived with one partner, but 38% have had two or more partners over the course of their life.

Looking at present relationships, 53% of adults ages 18 and older are currently married, down from 58% in 1995, according to data from the Current Population Survey. Over the same period, the share of Americans who are living with an unmarried partner has risen from 3% to 7%. Read More →

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Family and Relationships Marriage and Divorce Household and Family Structure

By Mara Mordecai

Protesters in Madrid wave Spanish flags during a demonstration against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in February. As the Nov. 10 election nears, Spaniards are largely pessimistic and dissatisfied with the country’s democracy. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

Spaniards head to the polls on Sunday for Spain’s fourth election in as many years. The election comes as the Spanish public is especially pessimistic, harbors strong doubts about democracy, and is concerned about inequality, their children’s financial future and the availability of well-paying jobs. That said, overall sentiment about the economy has rebounded in recent years and is the most positive it has been in over a decade.

Below are five facts about public opinion in Spain based on a survey conducted from June 4 to July 22, 2019, among 1,069 adults.

1Most Spaniards are discontent with the state of their country’s economy, but less so than in the past. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) say they think the economic situation in Spain is at least somewhat good, while a majority (57%) says it is bad. This is an improvement from last year, and it also represents substantial improvement since 2013, when the share who thought the Spanish economy was good was only 4%. It also shows Spaniards’ optimism about the economy rebounding toward pre-recession levels.

Read More →

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World Economies World Elections Europe

By Bradley Jones

Americans are more than twice as likely to say there is at least some discrimination against blacks in the U.S. (77%) as they are to say this about whites (36%). But these opinions differ substantially along partisan lines: Far larger shares of Democrats than Republicans say there is a lot or some discrimination against blacks and little or no discrimination against whites.

A new survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Sept. 3-15, finds that Americans continue to see widespread discrimination against a number of groups in the U.S., including Muslims, gays and lesbians, Hispanics, women, and Jews, as well as blacks.

When opinions about discrimination against blacks and whites are combined, 49% of the public says that blacks face a lot or some discrimination and that whites face little or no discrimination. Read More →

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Discrimination and Prejudice U.S. Political Parties Race and Ethnicity

By John Gramlich and Luis Noe-Bustamante

Migrants await processing in a temporary holding area under the Paso Del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas, on March 28. (Christ Chavez/Getty Images)

Border Patrol agents apprehended more migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal 2019 than in any year since fiscal 2007, according to new federal data. The influx of migrants has strained border facilities and become a major policy focus for President Donald Trump’s administration.

Below is a closer look at the shifting dynamics at the southwestern border, based on the new numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency tasked with patrolling the border.

1Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border more than doubled between fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2019 but remained below historical highs. There were 851,508 apprehensions in the 2019 fiscal year (October 2018-September 2019), a 115% increase from the previous fiscal year and the highest total in 12 years. Still, the total remained far below the 1,643,679 apprehensions recorded in 2000, the peak year. And apprehensions regularly exceeded 1 million per fiscal year during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Read More →

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Unauthorized Immigration Immigration Trends Mexico Migration Latin America Immigration

By David Masci

Americans who personally know someone in a religious group different from their own – or who have at least some knowledge about that group – generally are more likely to have positive feelings about members of that group than those who don’t, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

The survey employed a “feeling thermometer” to measure people’s warmth toward different religious groups, with 0 degrees representing the coldest and most negative feeling and 100 degrees being the warmest and most positive rating. Overall, U.S. adults gave the highest ratings to Jews (mean rating of 63 degrees), Catholics (60) and mainline Protestants (60), and the coolest ratings to Mormons (51), atheists (49) and Muslims (49).

Read More →

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Religion and Society Religious Affiliation Religious Beliefs and Practices

By Richard Fry

The share of young adults who are not engaged in work or education has gone down gradually in recent decades and is now at its lowest point in 30 years (13.7%).

The downward trend in this figure – sometimes referred to as the “disconnection rate” – reflects in part the nation’s tight labor markets and falling unemployment, but also higher levels of engagement among young women. In 2018, only 14.4% of 18- to 24-year-old women were neither working nor enrolled in school, down from 21.7% in 1989.

A similar share of young men (13.0%) were not working or going to school in 2018. This is up marginally from 11.2% in 1989, but the share has fluctuated substantially over that period, peaking at 18.6% in 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Read More →

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Teens and Youth Gender Education Work and Employment

By David Masci and Drew DeSilver

Same-sex marriage has become legal in a growing number of countries in recent years.

The United Kingdom’s Parliament in London recently legalized same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, which had been the last UK constituent country to bar gay and lesbian couples from marrying. Same-sex marriages also became legal this year in Ecuador, Taiwan and Austria.

In a number of countries that have recently legalized same-sex marriage, the impetus for legal change came through the courts. For example, the May 17 vote in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (the official name of the nation’s unicameral parliament) was prompted by a 2017 decision by the country’s Constitutional Court, which struck down a law defining marriage as a union between a man and woman. Likewise, Austria’s legalization of gay marriage at the beginning of 2019 came after a 2017 ruling by the country’s Constitutional Court. In the United States, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide in a 2015 ruling. Read More →

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Gay Marriage and Homosexuality Social Values Marriage and Divorce

By Michael Lipka and David Masci

More than 18 years after the Netherlands became the world’s first country to legalize same-sex marriage, Northern Ireland has become the latest European jurisdiction to allow gays and lesbians to marry. Although Northern Island is a constituent of the United Kingdom, with its own parliament at Stormont, the change in its marriage laws ultimately came about due to action by the UK Parliament in London. British lawmakers justified the change (which was accompanied by the legalization of abortion) because the Northern Irish parliament was suspended in January 2017 amid a stalemate between Northern Ireland’s parties.

Northern Ireland is the 18th European jurisdiction to legalize gay marriage. This number counts England and Wales together and Scotland and Northern Ireland as separate entities, since same-sex marriage became legal in the UK due to the enactment of three different pieces of legislation: first in England and Wales in 2013, then in Scotland the following year, and now in Northern Ireland. Read More →

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Gay Marriage and Homosexuality Religion and Society Social Values Europe

By Shannon Schumacher

The 2016 vote on a referendum to leave the EU cut across party and ideological lines. Above, the EU flag and Union Jack-themed umbrellas of Brexit outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Oct. 22. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

The political battle over Brexit in the UK has dragged on for more than three years without resolution, helping to fracture the nation’s politics. A question that has divided British politics – whether to leave the European Union or remain part of it – aligns with attitudes toward the EU, immigration and the country’s culture, but traditional cleavages along party lines and the left-right ideological spectrum still exist on other topics, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

The survey was conducted among 1,031 UK adults from June 4 to July 20, 2019, before Boris Johnson became prime minister on July 24. Here are its key findings:

1The 2016 EU referendum vote cut across party and ideological lines. Similar to what exit polls after the vote showed, our survey found that people who voted “leave” were on average more likely than those who voted “remain” to be male, older, and have less education and lower incomes, and they were less likely to be from urban areas. Read More →

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Political Polarization International Governments and Institutions Europe

NEWS IN THE NUMBERS

East Germany has narrowed economic gap with West Germany since fall of communism, but still lags

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Democrats far more likely than Republicans to see discrimination against blacks, not whites

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In U.S., familiarity with religious groups is associated with warmer feelings toward them

Brexit divides the UK, but partisanship and ideology are still key factors

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