Page 120 - IJPS-11-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Family policy from a global perspective

in the WVS. We have selected only indicators that were statement. Substantial disagreement can also be found
included in many countries. The WVS asked the following in Serbia, Romania, Sweden, and several other European
questions: “For each of the following statements I read out, countries, while Hungary, Estonia, and Belarus exhibit the
can you tell me how strongly you agree or disagree with most traditional gender attitudes in this regard. Traditional
each. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly views on women’s roles also apply to North African
disagree? Being a housewife is just as fulfilling as working countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, whereas sub-
for pay,” and “When a mother works for pay, the children Saharan African countries, particularly Nigeria and Ghana,
suffer.” The response categories have been rescaled so view work as an important accomplishment for women.
that the average country values range from 0 to 1. Higher Latin American countries show a wide range of responses,
values indicate lower agreement with the statements, from Puerto Rico, which tends to agree, to Haiti, which
signifying a higher acceptance of female employment and, displays the greatest disagreement with the statement.
consequently, more gender-egalitarian attitudes. A similar dispersion across world regions is evident for
Figure 5 displays the level of disagreement with the second indicator. The belief that children suffer when the
the statement that being a housewife is as fulfilling for mother works for pay is most prevalent in Asian countries
a woman as working for pay, reflecting support for such as Jordan, Yemen, Pakistan, Qatar, and Bangladesh.
traditional gender divisions of labor. The dominant In contrast, Taiwan is at the opposite end of the opinion
impression conveyed in Figure 5 is a wide variation of spectrum, surpassing the Netherlands, New Zealand,
attitudes, significant diversity within world regions, and Zimbabwe, and the USA (Figure 6). A more systematic
disparities among countries often considered culturally pattern of responses emerges from the question, “How
similar. No discernible patterns can be observed across would you feel about the following statements? Do you
continents. For example, respondents in Myanmar largely agree or disagree with them? If a woman earns more money
agree with the statement that housewives have a fulfilled than her husband, it’s almost certain to cause problems.”
life, but neighboring Thailand mostly disagrees with that On a 3-point scale, from agree to disagree, responses

Figure 5. Domestic role of women: Being a housewife is as fulfilling as working for pay. Note: Higher score: Stronger disagreement. Source: World Values
Survey.

Volume 11 Issue 3 (2025) 114 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1993