WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND THE DIVISION OF HOUSEHOLD LABOUR IN 11 COUNTRIES

The Economist/Angus Reid World Poll, conducted in 11 countries during June and July of 1999, examined adult women's perspectives on whether they currently have - and should have - the same rights and opportunities as men in their respective countries, and whether they believe their own generation is better off than their grandmother's generation when it comes to gender equality and overall happiness. The results show that women around the world still see an "equality gap" between reality and the ideal. But the bottom line is good: they overwhelmingly agree that their generation is more equal than their grandmother's generation - and many think they're happier too.

The women in this international survey were also asked who in their household - themselves or their spouse - is mainly responsible for doing each of eight selected household chores. The survey findings reveal that most married women shoulder the responsibility for all the basics - cleaning, cooking, shopping and child care - whereas men weigh in on household financial planning and home repair.

These results emerged from an international public opinion survey conducted by the Angus Reid Group on behalf of The Economist. This poll involved interviews among a total of 3,009 women (aged 18 and older) in 11 countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. Data collection was carried out in June and July of 1999.

The target sample size was 250 adult women in each country, with the exception of a 500 sample size in the United States. A sample size of 250 provides for a margin of error in the range of +6.5 percentage points. In 9 of these 11 countries, a fully representative national sample was interviewed by telephone. The two exceptions were Mexico and South Africa where the samples covered urban areas only and interviews were conducted on an in-person, door-to-door basis. The complete data set was statistically weighted so that the overall survey results reflect the proportional populations of the countries/urban areas in the sample.

For further information about this poll, please contact:

John Wright, Senior Vice-President
The Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900