20. The GDR encouraged women to work and they got equal pay
The GDR was miles ahead of the curve when it came to feminism. Viewing the traditional domestic and maternal roles of women as a bourgeois ideology, the SED found an untapped workforce. Workplaces in the GDR had quotas for women employees, and the SED introduced free childcare to enable women to work. GDR law also dictated equal pay for women. This policy has left an important legacy. The gender pay gap in East Germany is still much smaller than in West Germany. In some East German cities today, women actually earn more on average than men.