Changes to Living Standards in the Weimar Republic (Edexcel GCSE History)

Timeline - Changes to Living Standards in Weimar Germany

Attempts to Improve the Standard of Living, 1924-29- Summary

The establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1918 marked the beginning of the German welfare state. A welfare state is the concept that the government supports and improves the well-being of its citizens. By 1922, the government had improved people’s standard of living in Germany. One of the Weimar government's first acts was to establish the eight-hour working day. In 1920, the government introduced war-related pensions that gave money to the widows and orphans from the First World War. 

The hyperinflation crisis of 1923 destroyed the Weimar government’s vision of the welfare state. Many workers became unemployed, resulting in a significant fall in living standards. Food shortages were common as farmers refused to sell their products for money that had no value. People resorted to bartering or stealing food to survive. Homelessness and starvation were not uncommon. 

From 1924, once the economy had recovered, the government was determined to improve living standards. They passed a series of reforms ranging from building houses to improving education. Whilst the government succeeded in some areas, there was a divide between the industrial and agricultural working classes. Workers in towns and cities benefitted the most from the reforms. High debt, low prices and increasing taxes damaged the standard of living in farming communities. By 1929, the income of agricultural workers was 44% below the national average. They became susceptible to the appeal of extremist parties who promised to improve their standard of living.

Reducing Unemployment in the Weimar Republic

• The hyperinflation crisis of 1923 increased unemployment

  • In 1924, 4% of the working population was unemployed

  • By 1926, this had increased to over 20%

• Germany’s economic recovery relied upon creating jobs 

• Stresemann had introduced a new currency (the Reichsmark) that foreign countries were happy to trade in

• Germany needed to increase its industrial production to have resources to trade with other countries

• The government passed the Unemployment Insurance Act in 1927

  • This money funded insurance that covered unemployment and sickness

  • 16.4 million workers had 3% of their wages diverted to the government

  • If an insured German did not have a job or was unable to work due to poor health, the scheme paid them 60 Reichsmarks per week

• The economic recovery and government legislation meant that, by 1928, the number of people unemployed had fallen to roughly 2%

Improvement to Work & Wages in the Weimar Republic

• It was vital for the Weimar government to keep the working classes happy

  • Communism was attractive to the workers

  • If too many workers supported communism, the KPD would win more seats in the Reichstag

  • Communism threatened the success of German businesses and industry 

    • Communism was against owning private property or businesses. Any businesses that did operate would not be allowed to make a profit

  • Economic recovery from the events of 1923 depended on increasing industrial output

• The government introduced a series of reforms to improve working conditions:

  • They lowered the hours in a working week from 50 in 1925 to 46 in 1927

  • Workers’ ‘real’ wages rose 25% from 1925 to 1928. This measurement considers the cost of living and inflation to calculate the actual value of a worker's wages

Housing in the Weimar Republic

• There was a housing crisis in Germany in the 1920s

  • By 1923, Germany had a shortage of 1 million homes

• The Länder aimed to rectify this

  • The Länder utilised foreign loans to fund building projects

  • They encouraged the workers to build their own houses using recycled materials 

• The Weimar government acted to increase the amount of suitable housing

  • The government introduced a rent tax of 15% to create building associations

  • Private companies created 37,000 new homes from 1925 to 1929. In the same period, building associations constructed 64,000 homes

  • The Weimar government employed talented architects to create these new homes

• By 1928, the housing shortage had reduced

  • There still were not enough houses for Germany’s population

Introduction of Pensions in the Weimar Republic

• The First World War had a devastating impact on the German people

  • Two million German soldiers died between 1914 and 1918, and four million more were wounded

• This created a large number of war widows

  • By 1920, there were an estimated 400,000 war widows in Germany

  • The widows struggled to provide for themselves and their families

• In 1920, the government decided to help war widows recover from the devastating impacts of the war

  • They passed the Reich Pension Law

  • Over 1.3 million people (widows and ex-soldiers) received a war-related pension

  • Weimar Germany spent roughly 40% of its GDP on this scheme

• During the hyperinflation crisis in 1923, those claiming war-related pensions suffered greatly

  • Their pension became worthless when the mark lost its value

  • The government compensation scheme gave pensioners money to the value of 10% of their debt. This was not adequate for financial recovery

Progress in Education in the Weimar Republic

• Education was slow to change in Weimar Germany

  • Most teachers were very conservative in their political beliefs

  • The church was responsible for running many schools

• The Weimar Constitution outlined the reforms the government wanted to make in schools

  • They believed that children should attend state-funded primary schools that were free of religious influence for four years

  • The government wanted to encourage more lower-class students to access higher education

• Educational reforms achieved some success

  • By 1928, the number of students in higher education had increased to 110,000.  Before 1914, there were only 70,000 students

• There was a lot of opposition to these reforms

  • The Catholic and Protestant churches did not like to have their influence taken away from schools

  • Upper-class parents did not want their children to be educated with lower-class children, especially if they were of different faiths