That’s according to a new survey on attitudes to gender carried out in 16 countries. Hungarians are particularly critical of working mothers, and the most acceptance was found in Estonia and Norway.
Researchers Isabella Buber-Ennser (from the Vienna Institute of Demography) and Ralina Panova surveyed more than 80,000 people aged 45 and under in 14 European countries as well as in Australia and Japan for their study on ‘Attitudes towards Parental Employment’.
In Hungary, four out of five respondents (80 percent) said they believe young children suffer if their mothers work. 72 percent of Georgians were of the same opinion, and 64 percent of Russians. Austria holds a medium position on the scale of critical/accepting – with a similar score to Australia and Romania (both 45 percent), the Czech Republic and France (both 41 percent).
In almost all countries, men were more critical of working mothers than women were. This gender gap was particularly noticeable in Austria and Norway – with men holding more traditional views than women.