20

The paper seeks to provide some insights into the trends and patterns of female employment in Germany and their underlying institutional framework. It is argued that the main challenge facing female employment in Germany is often the low quality of jobs. The so-called German “employment miracle” has been accompanied by a rising prevalence of low hourly pay and atypical work forms in recent years. Women’s employment growth is primarily based on a steadily rising numbers of part-time and mini-jobs – a very particular German institution that provides incentives to keep the monthly earnings below €450. It is argued that real progress to more gender equality in the German labour market has been hindered by the institutional framework which still remains very ambiguous and inconsistent, as regards the role of women in the labour market.