Editing Willy Brandt (section)

==== Civil, family, and animal rights ====
Regarding civil rights, the Brandt Administration introduced a broad range of socially liberal reforms aimed at making West Germany a more open society. Greater legal rights for women were introduced, as exemplified by the standardisation of pensions, divorce laws, regulations governing the use of surnames, and the introduction of measures to bring more women into politics.<ref name="MyLife" /> The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18,<ref>{{harvp|Pridham|1977}}</ref> the age of eligibility for political office was lowered to 21,<ref name="Winkler_Sager" /> and the age of majority was lowered to 18 in March 1974.<ref name="Winkler_Sager" /> The Third Law for the Liberalization of the Penal Code (1970) liberalised "the right to political demonstration",<ref name="Braunthal" /><ref name="Winkler_Sager" /> while equal rights were granted to illegitimate children that same year.<ref name="Walker" /> A 1971 amendment to a federal civil service reform bill enabled fathers to apply for part-time civil service work.<ref>{{harvp|Cooke|Gash|2007}}</ref> In 1971, corporal punishment was banned in schools,<ref>{{harvp|Kaplan|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ocq05ABvJYYC&pg=PA123 123]}}</ref> and that same year a new Highway Code was introduced.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OT1cAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA17|title=Eighteenth Annual Report and Resolutions of the Council of Ministers|first=European Conference of Ministers of|last=Transport|date=1 February 1972|publisher=OECD Publishing|via=Google Books|isbn=9789282106303}}</ref> In 1973, a measure was introduced that facilitated the adoption of young children by reducing the minimum age for adoptive parents from 35 to 25.<ref name="aei.pitt_b" />

A women's policy machinery at the national level was established in 1972<ref>{{harvp|Huber|Stephens|2001}}</ref> while amnesty was guaranteed in minor offences connected with demonstrations.<ref name="Winkler_Sager" /> From 1970 onwards, parents as well as landlords were no longer legally prohibited "to give or rent rooms or flats to unmarried couples or to allow them to stay overnight".<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Discretionary Time]]|last1=Goodin|first1=Robert E.|date=21 February 2008|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9781139470773|page=174|display-authors=etal}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=pKuzRB8PRBwC&pg=PA174 Preview.]</ref> In October 1972, the legal aid system was improved with the compensation paid to private lawyers for legal services to the poor increased.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YFc5AQAAIAAJ&q=west%20germany%201972%20financing%20legal%20aid|title=A reader on resourcing civil justice|last1=Paterson|first1=Alan|last2=Goriely|first2=Tamara|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780198764618}}</ref> The Bausparkassen Act of 1972<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.bausparkassen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/english/Bausparen_in_Deutschland_en_130109.pdf |title=The "Bauspar" System in Germany |publisher=European Office of the Verband der Privaten Bausparkassen e.V. |date=January 2013 |publication-place=Brussels |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922045007/http://www.bausparkassen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/english/Bausparen_in_Deutschland_en_130109.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2015 |access-date=28 August 2015}}</ref> placed all bausparkassen ([[Building society|building societies]]) under the supervision of the Federal Banking Supervisory Office from January 1974 onwards, and confined them "to the contract saving business and related activities".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-IlR-UVHSgC&pg=PA202|title=National Housing Finance Systems: A Comparative Study|last=Boléat|first=Mark|date=1 January 1985|publisher=Mark Boleat|via=Google Books|isbn=9780709932499}}</ref> The Animal Protection Act, passed in 1972, introduced various safeguards for animals such as not permitting the causing of pain, injury, or suffering to an animal without justification, and limiting experiments to the minimum number of animals necessary.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_DjBwAAQBAJ&q=federal%20republic%20germany%201972%20animal%20protection&pg=PA103|title=Animal Research and Ethical Conflict: An Analysis of the Scientific Literature: 1966–1986|last1=Phillips|first1=Mary T.|last2=Sechzer|first2=Jeri A.|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|via=Google Books|isbn=9781461236207}}</ref> In 1971, rules were introduced making it possible for former guestworkers "to receive an unlimited residence permit after a five-year stay".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFRdBAAAQBAJ&q=federal%20republic%20germany%20language%20law%201973&pg=PA61|title=The Federal Republic of Germany Since 1949: Politics, Society and Economy Before and After Unification|last1=Larres|first1=Klaus|last2=Panayi|first2=Panikos|date=27 August 2014|publisher=Routledge|via=Google Books|isbn=9781317891741}}</ref>