A majority of Generation Z and Millennials globally believe that women’s rights “have gone far enough” and that “men are being discriminated against,” according to a new survey.
Ipsos collaborated with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London to conduct a global study with 32 countries and 22,508 adults between the ages of 18 and 74. Respondents were asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement: “When it comes to giving women equal rights with men, thing have gone far enough in my country.” Majorities of both Generation Z respondents (55 percent) and Millennials (57 percent) say they agree that women’s rights “have gone far enough.”
Fifty-three percent of Generation X respondents and 47 percent of Baby Boomers also agree that women’s rights “have gone far enough” in their countries. However, respondents from the United States were much less likely to agree. In the United States, 37 percent of those polled say women’s rights “have gone far enough,” compared to 48 percent who disagree. American men (40 percent) are slightly more likely than women (35 percent) to agree, the survey found.
Respondents were also asked to agree or disagree with the statement: “We have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men.” Gen Z and Millennial respondents were much more likely to agree than Generation X and Baby Boomer participants. Fifty-two percent of Gen Z and 53 percent of Millennials agree compared to 46 percent of Gen X and 40 percent of Baby Boomers.
Once again American participants were below the global average in believing that men are being discriminated against in the name of women’s equality. Forty-percent of American respondents agree and 47 percent disagree. American men were more likely to agree than women by more than 10 percentage points (46 percent to 34 percent).
Younger generations globally are additionally more likely to agree that “men are being expected to do too much to support equality,” the survey found. Fifty-five percent of Gen Z, and 57 percent of Millennials agree, compared to 46 percent of Gen X and 47 percent of Baby Boomers who agree.
Men in the United States are much more likely than American women to agree that men are expected to do too much to support equality, 45 percent to 27 percent. Overall, 36 percent of U.S. respondents agree and 48 percent disagree.
The pollster notes that “while it is a minority view in all generations,” Gen Z (30 percent) and Millennials (30 percent) globally are more likely than older generations to say “a man who stays home to look after his children is less of a man.” Only 22 percent of Gen X and 14 percent of Baby Boomers agree.
The view that “a man who stays home to look after his children is less of a man” is very unpopular in the United States, the survey found. Overall, only 16 percent agree and 77 percent disagree, and by sex, 21 percent of men and 11 percent of women agree.
Interestingly, Gen Z and Millennials are still more likely to define themselves as feminists than Gen X and Baby Boomers, 45 and 44 percent compared to 37 percent and 35 percent. Globally, 51 percent of respondents believe that young women today have a better life than women from their parents’ generation. The United States is closer to the global average, with 48 percent saying young women today are better off. Twenty-three percent say it is about the same, and 20 percent say it is worse.