바이마르 공화국(1919-1933)의 사회복지정책과 여성 노동자 문제

Social Welfare Policy and Female Worker Problem in the Weimar Republic(1919-1933) - Based on Enforcement and Limitation of Unemployment Insurance Law

The historical significance of being possessed by the unemployment insurance law, which is one of social welfare policy that the Weimar Republic did spread, is what enacted so that the labor and the management can autonomously participate in a state’s social policy, with escaping from the conventional character of the poor relief by which employer and laborer share its burden together. The Weimar Republic adopted the unemployment insurance law, thereby being likely to be possibly said to have built the basis and skeleton of the comprehensive labor rights. Accordingly, the unemployment insurance law will be able to be said to be ‘the ideal of Weimar social welfare,’ which positively implemented the comprehensive labor right and social right, which were clearly stated in the constitutional law for the first time, under the background called a state of democracy. And, under the expansion in social policy and the principle of gender equal right, the unemployment insurance was carried out comprehensively including even female workers. This will be definitely said to be great performance of Weimar social policy. However, the unemployment insurance law was operated differently depending on economic situation. Especially, a problem about female workers and unemployment insurance law can be said to be one tabloid edition of Weimar social welfare policy, which had been fluctuated due to economic crisis. In other words, female workers became recipients of the lowest unemployment insurance by which the minimum living cost was decided more lowly than men. The social welfare policy of the Weimar Republic was operated differently depending on economic situation. Here, there were many cases that female workers are excluded from the benefits of social policy including unemployment insurance whenever social and economic crisis takes place. This can be known through what female workers are judged unfavorably more than men in the ‘process of examining unemployment insurance amount’ for paying unemployment insurance and through discussion as saying of aiming to exclude female workers from the recipients of unemployment insurance every economic crisis. Also, it can be known that women’s labor value, which was increased in labor market, was depreciated, and that a couple has a job together in the economically critical situation, namely, that women’s activity range was very reduced in labor market of the economically critical period in the Weimar Republic through ‘argument of dual incomer.’ In addition, even through what women were pointed out as a person of likely quitting job mainly in ‘argument of dual incomer,’ the female workers’ position in the Weimar Republic can be known to have been very unstable. Accordingly, the social policy of the Weimar Republic achieved the performance of legislative system called the equal realization and gender equal right and social right, which were clearly stated on the constitutional law, and the introduction of female workers’ minimum living cost, but can be said to have discriminated female workers in its process of enforcement. And, even its limitation was expressed by excluding female workers first from the social policy ding unemployment insurance in the economically critical situation.