Two German states formally became one seven years ago, and the Germans have been debating since then just how far along unification has progressed. The report offers a generally positive assessment of the efforts to integrate what had once been two deeply divided societies, but nonetheless voices concern about some of the remaining economic disparities between east and west. Life in the two halves of the country has become remarkably similar, the government believes. The east has largely caught up with the west in living standards, for example, and consumer spending habits in the two halves of the country are virtually identical. A new public order, the report notes, has been successfully established in the eastern states, uniting German citizens in a shared political and legal system.
Many social differences remain, though.
The report observes, for example, that eastern Germans still tend to marry and establish families at a younger age on average than western Germans. Eastern couples are less likely to remain childless, and mothers of young children in eastern Germany more commonly have jobs or are looking for jobs than their western counterparts. Although eastern Germany s economy has grown remarkably and has become vastly more competitive since 1990, it still lags behind the west in several important areas. Productivity in the east, according to the government report, is only half what it is in the west. The economic difference of greatest concern, however, remains unemployment.