Gender equality in Cyprus

The report findings of Special Eurobarometer 428: Gender Equality, were published on the European Commission’s website in March 2015.
 
The survey was carried out in all 28 Member States of the European Union and its main objective was to identify and measure the perceptions of gender inequalities that exist within each individual member state.

The survey has been requested by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers and coordinated by Directorate-General for Communication. TNS Opinion & Social network was responsible for carrying out survey in the Member States. In Cyprus, the fieldwork was conducted by CYMAR Market Research Ltd. between the 29/11/2014 and 8/12/2014 among 500 respondents.

You can download a summary and the full report of the findings on the European Commission website.

Following is a short synopsis of the most notable findings from the Cyprus survey.
 

Views on inequalities between men and women are equally divided among Cypriots. Slightly more than half of the Cypriots who responded in the survey believe that inequalities between women and men in Cyprus are either very widespread or fairly widespread. At the same time, slightly less than half believe that inequalities in Cyprus among the two genders are either fairly rare or very rare.
 
The sociodemographic analysis reveals that the view that inequalities between men and women are widespread, is more prominent among:

Respondents were also asked to provide their perceptions regarding inequalities by indicating their agreement on a number of statements. About three quarters of Cypriots believe that the family overall suffers when the mother has a full time job. Compared with the EU average, this view is one of the strongest among the Member States of the EU.

On the other end of the spectrum, only one out of ten Cypriots agrees that a father should put his career ahead of looking after his young child. This view is particularly strong in Cyprus and the second strongest among all European Member States. Specifically seven out of ten Cypriots totally disagree with the statement “a father must put his career ahead of looking after his young child” and another two out of ten tend to disagree.



 

 
Nine out of ten Cypriots believe that tackling inequality between women and men should be a priority for the EU. This percentage is much higher than the EU average and the second highest in the EU.

When asked about the inequalities that should be dealt with the most urgently, dealing with violence against women was the most cited answer among Cypriots. Three out of four Cypriots who participated in the survey believe that violence against women should be dealt with, urgently. This particular area received the majority of mentions in 18 Member States, with Cyprus topping the list in the number of mentions.

Respondents were also asked to provide their view on the most effective ways to increase the number of women in the labor market. Cypriots believe that more women would enter the workforce if they were paid the same as men for the same work. This view received the most mentions, ahead of the opinion that child care in Cyprus should be more accessible. Equally important for Cypriots is the view that it should be easier for women to combine a job with household and care responsibilities.