Integrating, supporting, and enabling mothers of young children to stay in paid employment has been one of the central issues surrounding women’s wage work. While the numbers of mothers in paid employment were growing in the period after World War II in capitalist and even more so in state socialist countries, activists and governments came up with different sets of measures to support them and ensure they remained in long-term paid employment.

Between the 1950s and 1980s, women trade unionists from Eastern Europe championed ideas and policies that aimed to improve the working conditions of mothers with small children both within their own countries and in international discussions. These activists saw full employment for women as more than just economic necessity of the country – it was a key pillar of women’s emancipation, ensuring their equal participation in society. In their home countries, Eastern European women trade unionists played a crucial role in shaping state socialist policies on maternity rights and day care services and encouraged debates about the division of labour within families. Despite political and ideological divides of the Cold War, their advocacy also contributed to global debates on women’s employment and welfare policies.

Changing the “social conditions” of motherhood

While the typical image of a “fifties woman” – especially in the North American context – is that of a suburban stay at home mother, in state socialist Eastern Europe, full employment for women was a political and economic goal.

The term “working mother” became a key concept in state socialist Eastern Europe, referring to women who were both caregivers and full-time workers. Unlike Western European capitalist models that often reinforced the male breadwinner system or advocated for part-time employment for working mothers, state socialist policies emphasized women’s full integration into the workforce, supported by state-provided childcare and maternity benefits. However, despite the range of social policies available, working women in state socialist countries continued to face the challenges of balancing paid and unpaid labour that these policies were unable to resolve. Women trade unionists such as Mrs. Ferenc Peterecz, a textile worker from the Hungarian delegation to the 1956 World Conference of Women Workers, criticized the assumption that gender equality had already been achieved in state socialist countries. She pointed to persistent workplace discrimination, employer biases, and inadequate childcare services, all of which continued to create barriers for working mothers despite formal policies supporting them. She stressed:

The fact that a woman is not only a worker but also a mother who gives birth and cares for her sick child often means absence from work. That is why some employers, even some union leaders, prefer a male workforce . . . In the mindset of some men, we still find many backward features, and there is carelessness and disparagement towards women’s work. All this cannot be abolished with one stroke of the pen via laws and regulations. The trade unions must therefore do serious educational work not only among women but also among men.

Title page of the World Federation of Trade Unions’ brochure “Working Women Shape Their Future" (Prague, 1964)

International debates

Women trade unionists also used international platforms to support mothers in wage work. At the 1956 First World Conference of Women Workers in Budapest organized by the communist-aligned World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), participants highlighted the importance of childcare services as a key measure that helps mothers stay in paid employment. They advocated this vision and related policy proposals also during debates on global labour policies within the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Meanwhile, Western-oriented trade union internationals, like the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), prioritized measures such as part-time jobs for women, higher wages for male breadwinners, and promoted family allowances, reinforcing the expectation that mothers should stay home. Proposals advocating for institutional childcare put forward by women trade union activists from Eastern Europe were ultimately sidelined in the ILO debates on social policies for working mothers. Cold War divisions meant that even as Eastern European labour policies influenced global debates, their socialist origins often led to scepticism or outright rejection in Western-dominated institutions.

Policy innovations: Extended childcare leave

By the 1960s, Eastern European governments began developing new policies to address the high absenteeism rates of working mothers, which disrupted industrial productivity. One of the most significant policy innovations of this period was extended childcare leave that allowed mothers to take prolonged, paid maternity leave while their jobs were protected. Hungary led the way in this shift in social policies by introducing paid extended childcare leave in 1967, enabling mothers to stay home for up to three years while receiving financial support. This approach sought to complement, rather than replace, institutional childcare as it recognized that many mothers struggled to balance full-time employment with caregiving responsibilities.The ILO formally acknowledged extended childcare leave in its 1965 Employment (Women with Family Responsibilities) Recommendation (R123). Yet despite the ILO’s acknowledgement, Western European governments refused to include financial compensation for maternity leave in their provisions, limiting the Recommendation’s impact outside of state socialist countries.

Broader Discussions

The 1970s saw a broadening of the debate around working mothers, moving beyond childcare and maternity leave to include workplace flexibility, shorter working hours, and the role of men in family life. With the designation of 1975 as International Women’s Year and the World Congress of Women in East Berlin in October that year, Eastern European women activists and trade unionists strengthened their international networks, collaborating with both socialist and non-socialist organizations to promote equal labour conditions for women.

Hungarian participants at the World Congress for International Women's Year in East Berlin in 1975 (Photographer: Manfred Siebahn, source: Bundesarchiv Bilddatenbank, Bild 183-P1022-401]

A major ideological shift became clearly visible in the late 1970s, when discussions about gender equality within the family became more prominent in Eastern Europe. One key development was the advocacy for shared parental leave, challenging the assumption that only mothers should be responsible for caregiving. Discussions also expanded to the responsibilities of household labour, as women trade unionists pushed for men to share domestic work. At the same time, economic stagnation in state socialist states limited the expansion of childcare facilities and welfare provisions, meaning that many measures remained under-funded. Women trade unionists from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria began explicitly calling for men to take on greater domestic responsibilities, aligning with Scandinavian feminist perspectives that emphasized equal participation in both paid and unpaid labour. By the late 1970s, these ideas gained traction internationally. The WFTU’s 1979 Charter on Economic and Social Rights of Working Women called for a more equal division of household labour, and the ILO’s 1981 Workers with Family Responsibilities Recommendation (R165) introduced the concept of parental leave that either parent could take.

Many of the ideas that women trade unionists from state socialist countries championed – paid parental leave, accessible and affordable childcare, and gender-equal labour policies – remain central to modern debates on work-family balance and a “women-friendly” welfare state. But regardless of legal innovations, deeply ingrained gender norms and economic pressures meant that substantial change was slow to take root. Stagnation and material scarcity in state socialism meant that many policies, such as expanding childcare facilities, remained implemented in an uneven or limited fashion. Many men continued to view housework and childcare as “women’s responsibilities” despite policies encouraging greater gender equality.

Ultimately, while Eastern European women trade unionists made significant strides in advancing the politics of the working mother, their efforts were often constrained by economic limitations, ideological divides, and entrenched societal expectations. Nonetheless, their activism was part of the efforts that laid the groundwork for modern parental leave policies and gender-equal labour rights, influencing contemporary debates on work-life balance and family policy.