Americans Regard Gender Equality as Unfinished Business

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A century after women in the U.S. gained the right to vote with the adoption of the 19^th Amendment in August 1920, most Americans think additional work remains before women achieve equality with men. Nearly seven in 10 U.S. adults (69%) say women have not yet achieved equality in the workplace, and 66% say the same about politics.

Women are even less confident than Americans as a whole about gender equality. Roughly three-quarters say equality has not been realized in either sphere -- 79% for the workplace and 75% for politics. Men agree, but by smaller majorities.

	U.S. adults	Men	Women
	%	%	%
The workplace
Yes	31	42	21
No	69	58	79
Politics
Yes	34	43	25
No	66	57	75
Gallup Panel, July 13-19, 2020

Partisanship is a stronger factor than gender when it comes to perceptions of women's equality, but a gender gap persists among Republicans. While majorities of Republicans believe women have achieved equality in the workplace and politics, Republican women are less certain of these achievements than are Republican men:

• 56% of Republican women contrasted with 75% of Republican men say women have achieved equality with men in the workplace.

• 63% of Republican women versus 82% of Republican men believe women have equality with men in politics.

Meanwhile, more than nine in 10 Democratic women and men alike think women have not achieved equity in both the workplace and politics.

These findings are based on self-administered web interviews conducted July 13-19 with a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, using the Gallup Panel.

Most Foresee a Long Road to Equality

Those who believe equality has not yet been realized in the workplace or politics were then asked how long they think it will take for women in the United States to achieve equality with men in each area. When looking at the results of all Americans, few foresee equality being reached within the next decade -- 13% for the workplace and 12% for politics. The majority think it will take another 10, 20 or 30+ years -- if it ever happens.

	The workplace	Politics
	%	%
Already achieved	31	34
Less than 10 years	13	12
10 to 19 years	20	16
20 years to 29 years	16	13
30 or more years	12	16
Never	8	9
Gallup Panel, July 13-19, 2020

Women are more pessimistic than men about achieving equality in both the workplace and political realms. About a third of women (32%) versus 17% of men predict political equality will take another 30-plus years to achieve if it ever happens. For workplace equality, 25% of women versus 15% of men think women are in for a long haul.

	Have equality now	Less than 20 years	20 to 29 years	30 or more years or never
		%	%	%
Workplace
Men	42	30	14	15
Women	21	37	17	25
Politics
Men	43	27	13	17
Women	25	30	14	32
Gallup Panel, July 13-19, 2020

Older women are more optimistic than younger women about achieving equality within the next 20 years, but this is especially pronounced for politics.

• There is a 40-percentage-point age difference in women's belief that equality exists or will be realized in politics in under 20 years; 74% of women aged 65+ believing this versus 34% of those aged 18 to 44.

• By contrast, there is a 17-point age difference in women's views about workplace equality; 64% of women aged 65+ versus 47% of those 18 to 44 believe equality exists or will happen in under 20 years.

Most Identify 19^th Amendment as Key, if Not Top, Advancement

The 19^th Amendment was ratified more than seventy years after the "First Women's Rights Convention" in Seneca Falls, NY, that launched the women's suffrage movement.

Two-thirds of Americans consider the amendment to have been either "the most important step" in advancing women's rights in the U.S. (23%) or "one of the most important steps" (45%). Another 30% call it "just one of many important steps," while 2% say it wasn't important.

Men assign slightly greater significance to the amendment than do women: 26% of men vs. 21% of women call it the most important step that has been taken to further women's rights in the U.S.

	U.S. adults	Men	Women
	%	%	%
The most important step	23	26	21
One of the most important steps	45	42	48
Just one of many important steps	30	30	29
Not an important step	2	2	2
Total most important/one of the most important steps	68	68	69
Gallup Panel, July 13-19, 2020

Among women, appreciation for the 19^th Amendment is somewhat correlated with age, as the percentage calling it the most important step for women's equality rises from 13% of women aged 18 to 44, to 21% of those 45 to 64, and 31% of those 65 and older.

Eight in 10 Acknowledge Progress Since 19^th Amendment

Consistent with the small percentages of Americans who believe equality has been achieved in work and politics, relatively few (36%) think the United States has made a lot of progress on women's rights since the 19^th Amendment was ratified. Another 44% say there has been a fair amount of progress, while 20% say only a little or none.

Women are much less positive than men about the amount of progress that has been made as 29% of women versus 43% of men describe it as a lot of progress. Women are more likely than men to say a fair amount or only a little progress has been made.

	U.S. adults	Men	Women
	%	%	%
A lot	36	43	29
A fair amount	44	42	47
Only a little	19	14	23
None	1	1	1
Gallup Panel, July 13-19, 2020

Bottom Line

Women's access to the ballot has been the norm throughout the lives of nearly all adults living today, yet Americans have a broad appreciation for the significance of that achievement for women, as two-thirds describe it as the most or one of the most important steps in the advancement of women's equality in the U.S.

At the same time, Americans, and particularly women, view the 19^th Amendment as the beginning of the road to equality, not the end. This may reflect frustration with the continued low levels of women filling leadership roles in business and government. For instance, the number of women CEOs in the U.S. hit a record high of 37 this year, up from two in 2000, but is still only 7% of the total. This is in spite of nearly half of women employees aspiring to C-Suite positions in their career. The #MeToo movement could be another factor in perceptions of women's inequality, with close to half of all women saying they have been the victim of sexual harassment.

Older women -- perhaps because they have witnessed more change in their own lifetimes -- are more likely than younger women to both believe significant progress has occurred since the adoption of the 19^th Amendment and to be more optimistic about how soon full equality might be achieved. But the majority of women of all ages see more work to be done in both the workplace and politics.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

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