Germany: lukewarm evaluations for Kristina Schröder, CDU Minister for Family Affairs, and Ursula von der Leyen, CDU Minister for Employment

Notorious rivals within the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU), Kristina Schröder, Minister for Family Affairs, and Ursula von der Leyen, Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, have things in common: they became Ministers at the same time (November 2009), they came up with numerous projects that led nowhere, and they made promises they didn’t keep.  But about three weeks to the federal legislative election of September 22, they are in very different positions.  While Mrs. Schroder failed to modernize the German family policy as the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had requested, Mrs. von der Leyen, was able to highlight what she obtained from the coalition and her own party (progress on minimum wage, opening the labor market to highly-skilled foreign workers). Crowned by positive figures on employment, she remains what she’s always been: one of the government’s “stars.”  (Ref.  130513)
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Kristina Schroder: a series of failures. According to observers, history will probably remember Mrs. Schroder for two things: appointed Minister for Family Affairs when she was 32, she was also the only Minister to give birth during her term. It might seem as a rather harsh observation but her path looks like a series of failures.

The law on working time cuts to help a dependent parent (Familienpflegezeit) did come into force on January 1, 2012. but this law, which allows employees to reduce

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