What was it like to live in East Germany in the early 80s? Deutschland 82

Historical:
In the 1980s in East Germany, there was an obvious increase in equality between men and women. From modern estimations it is said that the gender pay gap was only 8% where as it was 23% in the western part of the country, showing that east Germany was more modern. Alongside this, there was also a form to help women in the workplace -  the system was used to help women and mothers in the work place. In East Germany, they took stamp collecting very seriously, and was one of the most popular hobbies in the German Democratic Republic. There was a wall in 'little Berlin' which marked the border between the Americans occupying West Germany, and the Soviets over in the East. Another thing that showed East Germany was ahead of the time against West Germany was that they had created their own pedestrian traffic lights.

Economic:
In East Germany in the 80s, the German Democratic Republic made it a law that every city in the country with over 50,000 people had to have a breast milk bank for babies who needed them. This shows that the country was in a poverty stricken state as they need donations to cover the country for milk. Along with this, East Germany did suffer economically, and as certain technologies became commonplace in the west, the east was unable to reach the same state of comfort. There was no belief in unemployment in East Germany, however this meant there was also no unemployment benefits, but employees could only be fired due to misconduct.

Social:
As the two sides of the country were separated, naturally they developed their own dialectical differences, but in the East slang words were much more common. A black market developed in the 80s for jeans, as in the 1970s they were banned, which they then became a big fashion statement. As Coca-Cola was hard to be transported into East Germany, they created their own coke called Vita-Cola, and another thing relating to food and drink is that bananas were seen as a rare delicacy. East Germany often had a different concept of what a fashion model should be, and their female models were usually everyday women who promoted a healthy body and healthy living. Germanys magazines also were unusual, they based their articles and stories on party politics and healthy living, rather than celebrity gossip etc.