NEW YORK, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1920, 144 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, women in the United States were given the right to vote. Ninety years later gender equality is still discussed and debated. When it comes to whether things are fine between men and women, the nation is split - just over half of Americans (52%) disagree that things are fine between the genders while 43% say things are fine. But men and women have a different take on the situation with over half of men (55%) believing things are fine compared to just one-third (32%) of women who say the same.

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Even more Americans (63%) agree that the U.S. still has a long way to go to reach complete gender quality. While three-quarters of women (74%) agree with this, so do just over half of men (52%).

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,227 adults surveyed online between June 14 and 21, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

Whether the issue of gender equality should be addressed is another question in these times with so many other pressing issues. Three-quarters of U.S. adults (74%) agree that they do not think gender equality is perfect, but there are more pressing issues to fix first. And men and women are in agreement on this (74% of men agree as do 75% of women).

Women and Work

One of the discrepancies the Equal Rights Amendment was hoping to correct was inequality in the workplace among men and women. But seven in ten Americans (69%) say that women often do not receive the same pay as men for doing exactly the same job. Three in five U.S. adults (62%) agree that women are often discriminated against in being promoted for supervisory and executive jobs. Women are much more likely than men to agree with this but almost half of men also agree with both sentiments. Four in five women (80%) agree that women often do not receive the same pay for the same job compared to 58% of men, and 75% of women agree women are discriminated against in their promotions compared to 48% of men.

Half of Americans (50%) say women often receive lower pensions or pay more on annuities than men doing the same work while 23% disagree with this and 27% are not at all sure. And it's not just with pay that there are issues. More Americans believe women often have much more trouble than men in getting credit, bank loans and mortgages (42% agree with this while 36% disagree) and that women are often discriminated in the insurance rates they pay (38% agree; 33% disagree).

But it isn't all bad. Over half of Americans (52%) say most employers are willing make the conditions of work flexible enough to help women with families who want to go to work. Again, there is a gender difference here as three in five men (60%) agree with this compared to less than half of women (46%).

So What?

In ninety years many things have changed for women in this country. And some may argue things are better, but there is still the undercurrent that there are issues, especially when it comes to pay and employment, where things have not yet approached an equal footing with men. Women are sitting in more boardrooms and at the helms of more companies today, but there is a sense they are not yet getting paid the same as men in those positions. There is also a sense that something else may have been lost. Four in five Americans (81%) and four in five men and women (81% for both) say women today are treated with less chivalry than in the past. Can women have both equal pay and chivalry? Or can it be only or the other?

TABLE 1

GENDER EQUALITY TODAY

"On another subject, August of this year will mark the 90(th) anniversary of women receiving the right to vote in the United States. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about gender equality in the United States today?"

Base: All adults

                         AGREE    Strongly  Somewhat  DISAGREE
                         (NET)     Agree      Agree     (NET)
                            %        %          %         %
    I don't think that
     gender equality is
     perfect in the
     United States, but
     there are more
     important issues
     to fix first.           74         36        38        21
    The U.S. still has
     a long way to go
     to reach complete
     gender equality.        63         30        34        32
    Things are fine the
     way they are
     between men and
     women.                  43         13        30        52

                         Somewhat   Strongly  Not at
                                                all
                         Disagree   Disagree   sure
                             %          %        %
    I don't think that
     gender equality is
     perfect in the
     United States, but
     there are more
     important issues
     to fix first.              14         7       5
    The U.S. still has
     a long way to go
     to reach complete
     gender equality.           21        11       5
    Things are fine the
     way they are
     between men and
     women.                     33        19       5

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 2

GENDER EQUALITY TODAY

"On another subject, August of this year will mark the 90(th) anniversary of women receiving the right to vote in the United States. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about gender equality in the United States today?"

Percent saying "Strongly Agree" or "Somewhat Agree"

Base: All adults

                         Total                 Generation
                                   Echo     Gen. X     Baby    Matures
                                 Boomers    (34-45)  Boomers      (65+)
                                 (18-33)             (46-64)
                            %        %         %         %         %
    I don't think that
     gender equality is
     perfect in the
     United States, but
     there are more
     important issues
     to fix first.           74        75        78        75        67
    The U.S. still has
     a long way to go
     to reach complete
     gender equality.        63        62        55        66        71
    Things are fine the
     way they are
     between men and
     women.                  43        45        49        39        42

                               Gender           Political Party
                          Male   Female   Rep.    Dem.   Ind.
                            %       %       %       %      %
    I don't think that
     gender equality is
     perfect in the
     United States, but
     there are more
     important issues
     to fix first.           74       75     76      71     77
    The U.S. still has
     a long way to go
     to reach complete
     gender equality.        52       74     51      77     59
    Things are fine the
     way they are
     between men and
     women.                  55       32     53      33     47

TABLE 3

WOMEN AND EQUAL TREATMENT

"Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements"

Base: All adults

                         AGREE    Strongly  Somewhat  DISAGREE
                         (NET)     Agree      Agree     (NET)
                           %         %          %         %
    Women today are
     treated with less
     chivalry than in
     the past                81         36        45        10
    Women often do not
     receive the same
     pay as men for
     doing exactly the
     same job                69         35        34        22
    Women are often
     discriminated
     against in being
     promoted for
     supervisory and
     executive jobs          62         23        38        27
    Most employers are
     willing to make
     the conditions of
     work flexible
     enough to help
     women with
     families who want
     to go to work           52         11        42        35
    Women often
     receive lower
     pensions or pay
     more on annuities
     than men doing
     the same work           50         22        28        23
    Women often have
     much more trouble
     than men in
     getting credit,
     bank loans and
     mortgages               42         15        27        36
    Women are often
     discriminated
     against in the
     insurance rates
     they pay                38         15        23        33
    Women receive the
     same pay as men
     for doing
     comparable jobs
     with similar
     skill and
     training                35         11        24        56

                        Somewhat   Strongly  Not at
                                               all
                        Disagree   Disagree   sure
                            %          %        %
    Women today are
     treated with less
     chivalry than in
     the past                   7         3       9
    Women often do not
     receive the same
     pay as men for
     doing exactly the
     same job                  15         6       9
    Women are often
     discriminated
     against in being
     promoted for
     supervisory and
     executive jobs            21         7      11
    Most employers are
     willing to make
     the conditions of
     work flexible
     enough to help
     women with
     families who want
     to go to work             25        10      13
    Women often
     receive lower
     pensions or pay
     more on annuities
     than men doing
     the same work             16         7      27
    Women often have
     much more trouble
     than men in
     getting credit,
     bank loans and
     mortgages                 24        12      21
    Women are often
     discriminated
     against in the
     insurance rates
     they pay                  22        11      29
    Women receive the
     same pay as men
     for doing
     comparable jobs
     with similar
     skill and
     training                  35        21       9

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 4

WOMEN AND EQUAL TREATMENT

"Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements"

Percent saying "Strongly Agree" or "Somewhat Agree"

Base: All adults

                   Total               Generation                   Gender
                           Echo   Gen. X      Baby   Matures  Male   Female
                         Boomers  (34-45)   Boomers     (65+)
                         (18-33)            (46-64)
                     %       %       %         %         %      %       %
    Women today
     are
     treated
     with less
     chivalry
     than in
     the past         81       78      81         83       81    81       81
    Women often
     do not
     receive
     the same
     pay as men
     for doing
     exactly
     the same
     job              69       66      64         72       76    58       80
    Women are
     often
     discriminated
     against in
     being
     promoted
     for
     supervisory
     and
     executive
     jobs             62       58      55         64       72    48       75
    Most
     employers
     are
     willing to
     make the
     conditions
     of work
     flexible
     enough to
     help women
     with
     families
     who want
     to go to
     work             52       50      58         51       54    60       46
    Women often
     receive
     lower
     pensions
     or pay
     more on
     annuities
     than men
     doing the
     same work        50       46      42         54       56    42       58
    Women often
     have much
     more
     trouble
     than men
     in getting
     credit,
     bank loans
     and
     mortgages        42       28      32         49       63    33       51
    Women are
     often
     discriminated
     against in
     the
     insurance
     rates they
     pay              38       31      34         41       49    29       46
    --------------   ---      ---     ---        ---      ---   ---      ---
    Women
     receive
     the same
     pay as men
     for doing
     comparable
     jobs with
     similar
     skill and
     training         35       36      43         32       32    46       25
    -----------      ---      ---     ---        ---      ---   ---      ---

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between June 14 and 21, 2010 among 2,227 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J38301

Q805, 810

The Harris Poll® #98, August 16, 2010

By Regina Corso, Director, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us - and our clients - stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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