In 1883, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (the SPD) and became a union member ("Buchdruckerverband"). At the time, the German Anti-Socialist Laws were still in force and the SPD was essentially an underground organisation. Until 1895, Scheidemann worked as a printer and proofreader. Scheidemann married in 1889 at Kassel. His wife was Johanna (Hanne) Dibbern (1864–1926). They had three daughters: Lina (1889–1933), Liese (1891–1955) and Hedwig (1893–1935). From 1895 to 1903, he worked as an editor at social democratic newspapers at Gießen ("Mitteldeutsche Sonntagszeitung"), Nuremberg, Offenbach and Kassel.