A lot of German law is based around the unstated assumption that business owners are 19th century industrial tycoons and all workers are employees. There are a

A lot of German law is based around the unstated assumption that business owners are 19th century industrial tycoons and all workers are employees. There are a lot of protections for employees (dependent workers) but practically zero for freelancers, for example. The concept of co-owning a business with your spouse is also alien to German law as in almost every situation it's more beneficial for one of both to either be an employee or primarily work elsewhere. And don't get me started on being a business owner and wanting to become a mother. A lot of women business owners abandon their companies to get hired as regular employees when they want to have children.