Gender Attitudes in the EU: Uneven Progress and Partial Polarisation
This Policy Brief uses data from several Eurobarometer surveys and shows that gender attitudes in the EU and their change over time are domain specific and uneven: these need to be studied as a multidimensional phenomenon. Regarding the area of leadership, EU citizens feel increasingly comfortable with having women in the highest decision making roles since 2009. This trend is particularly pronounced for young men in Northern and Southern EU countries. In the area of economy, the belief that the family suffers when mothers work full-time has become less common over the past decade. However, the beliefs of young men lag behind, leading to an attitude polarisation compared with young women. While the large majority of EU citizens does not accept acts of physical and sexual violence against women, there are higher rates of acceptance for online violence, such as non-consensual image sharing and sexist, demeaning or abusive comments. Moreover, young men are more likely to accept violence than older men in particular contexts. Policy recommendations include addressing stereotypes about gender roles in the economy as well as raising awareness about all forms of violence against women, especially among young men.
BERLINGIERI Francesco;
CASABIANCA Elizabeth;
NURMINEN Minna;
SMALLENBROEK Oscar;
ZULUAGA Paula;
European Commission: Joint Research Centre, BERLINGIERI, F., CASABIANCA, E., NURMINEN, M., SMALLENBROEK, O. and ZULUAGA, P., Gender Attitudes in the EU: Uneven Progress and Partial Polarisation, European Commission, Ispra, 2025, JRC141299.
2025-03-03
European Commission
JRC141299
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