17. Everyone had the right to a job
Soviet communism praised hard work and self-sacrifice. The GDR adopted these principles, and everyone had the right to a job. The SED proudly proclaimed the GDR had zero unemployment to the world, blaming capitalism for unemployment. People could be prosecuted for not having a job! In practice, though everyone had the right to a job, this wasn’t always the case. Many factories had too many workers with nothing for them to do. Some people simply slipped under the radar and had no work. Experts have deduced that despite their claims 15% of the GDR’s population didn’t have a job.