Equality trends in Armenia. What do the polls show?

According to a 2010 Caucasus Barometer survey conducted by the CRRC in Armenia, 54% of respondents mentioned a boy, 10% a girl, and 35% said that gender does not matter.

According to the same Caucasus Barometer survey published in 2020, 9% of respondents answered girls, and the number of those preferring a boy child decreased to 34%, while the number of respondents who said that the sex of the child does not matter for them increased to 55%.

The fact that the sex of the child is no longer important for more than half of Armenians is in itself encouraging for current and former UN Population Fund staff, their partner professionals and organizations, in short, all those who can rightfully oppose selective abortions to consider such a change in public opinion as the result of work.

For comparison, the indicators in neighboring Georgia are a bit better. 11% of the respondents preferred girls, 31% – boys, and 57% said that gender does not matter to them. Ten years ago in Georgia, 9% of respondents answered to a question –  a girl, 46% – a boy, 44% – it does not matter.

Who is the breadwinner of the family? “Equally” progress

It turns out that positive changes are observed not only in the gender preference of the child, but also in other issues related to equality between other women and men. For example, another change in public opinion concerns the notion of a breadwinner. The entrenched notion that the man is the breadwinner of the family is slowly changing in favor of women and men equally.

In Armenia, 53% of respondents consider the breadwinner to be a man, 16% to be a woman, and 28% to consider that both women and men support the family equally.

For comparison, in 2010 only 17% of respondents chose the third option.

It is noteworthy that 21% of respondents in neighboring Georgia believe that women and men are considered equal to earn for a family. In the last ten years, that index has hardly changed; in 2010, 20% answered the question that way.

Who should inherit the apartment?

In Armenia, by tradition, it was accepted that the paternal home was inherited by the youngest son of the family. As a result of these entrenched notions, girls are not usually considered heirs.

According to the results of the published survey, this tradition is not as strong in Armenia as it seems. In response to the question who should inherit the apartment, 43% of the participants answered that both daughters and sons are equal. There was no such question in the questionnaire ten years ago, we cannot make a comparison in this respect.

It should be noted that in Georgia 49% of the respondents answered that question in the same way.

Women are not “allowed” to live separately from their parents yet

66% of Armenians think that women cannot live separately from their parents at any age. Of course, this is a big indicator, but given the trend over the last ten years, the progress is obvious. In 2010, 79% of respondents gave a similar answer to the same question.

Georgia has a more liberal approach to this issue, with only 38% of respondents saying that women cannot live apart from their parents at any age. There is progress here as well, as ten years ago that index was 56%.

Moreover, 50% think that women should live separately from their parents at the age of 18-25, and in 2010 31% thought so.

The situation is more sad in Azerbaijan. For 87% of the respondents in 2010, it is unacceptable for a woman to live separately from her parents at any age.

Women must be virgins when married

Continuing the list of unacceptable, it should be noted that 82% of respondents in Armenia believe that women do not have the right to have sex before marriage. In 2010, 87% of respondents thought so.

In Georgia, 63% think that women should be virgins before marriage, in 2010, the figure was 80%. They are even more conservative in Azerbaijan, 89% of respondents in 2010 expressed such an opinion.

It should be noted that 75% of Armenian respondents believe that women cannot live in the same apartment with a man without getting married. Ten years ago, 80 percent thought so.

They are more progressive in Georgia, only 60% think so, and ten years ago – 72%.

In 2010, 87% of respondents in Azerbaijan expressed this opinion.

At what age can a woman get married?

91% of Armenians surveyed (90% in Georgia) believe that the best age for women to get married is 18-25 years old, 2% believe that women should not get married at any age.

In Georgia, only one percent believe that women should never get married.

Ten years ago, 95% of the respondents in Armenia considered that the best age for women to get married is 18-25. In 2010, the figure was 94 percent in Azerbaijan and 92 percent in Georgia.

Full text in Armenian