Global poll: Wide support for gender equality, except when jobs are scarce
Rashaan Ayesh AXIOS APRIL 30, 2020

Adapted from Pew Research Center; Chart: Axios Visuals
The vast majority of people across 34 countries surveyed by Pew Research Center say it's important for women to have the same rights as men — but majorities in many countries still believe men should take priority when jobs are scarce.

The big picture: Opinions vary widely across the countries as to whether men currently have better lives than women, with majorities in countries like France (70%), Sweden (62%) and the U.S. (57%) believing that is the case, but pluralities in Poland, Russia, Nigeria and India believing men and women have equally good lives.

Women are more likely to say men currently have better lives than women — particularly in Greece, Slovakia, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Hungary and Turkey.

In African countries like Kenya and South Africa, upwards of one-third of respondents believe women currently have better lives than men. That's nearly as many as believe men have better lives.

In Japan, 77% of men say women already have or will have the same rights as men, compared to 58% of women.

There are also major divides over whether men should have greater access to scarce jobs.
Most respondents across the Middle East, Africa and Asian-Pacific regions said men should have preferential treatment during a job shortage.

Just 13% in the U.S. feel that way, compared to 79% in India, 75% in the Philippines and 52% in South Korea.

Majorities in all four African countries surveyed believe men should take priority, as do many in Mexico (39%), Russia (45%) and Italy (40%).

The flipside: While majorities in many countries feel women have fewer employment opportunities, a median of 81% across the 34 countries believe women have equal access to a good education, and 63% that they have equal opportunities to express political opinions.

Worth noting: The U.S. is the only country surveyed where men (93%) were more likely than women (89%) to say gender equality is important.

Go deeper: Women's equality reframed