Buttoned up Brits? Not so much

Posted by on January 29, 2008 
Filed Under In the news

British flagLast week the British National Centre for Social Research released the results of its 24th annual British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA). The survey suggests that Brits are becoming more and more liberal in their attitudes about sexuality.

The most striking finding, according to British media reports, is that 70 percent of those surveyed think there’s nothing wrong with premarital sex. That’s up from just 48 percent in 1984, when the survey began. The survey also indicates that the proportion of people who subscribe to traditional gender roles has dropped almost by half over the last two decades. In 1989, 32 percent of respondents agreed that a man’s job was to earn money, while a woman’s job was to stay at home. In the latest survey, only 17 percent agreed with that opinion.

However, the latest BSA suggests that behaviors haven’t changed as much as attitudes have. For example, 77 percent of the people in couples still report that the woman usually does the laundry. That figure hasn’t changed much since 1994, according to the BSA press release (PDF).

How do these findings compare to your impression of attitudes and behavior in the United States? And where would you go to find comparable data for the U.S.?

Comments

One Response to “Buttoned up Brits? Not so much”

  1. Kara on January 30th, 2008 4:58 pm

    I’m not at all surprised with these findings. I think the US would be very close to the same as far as premarital sex being OK, and women still doing the laundry, and men supposed to make the money.

    I chuckled a little when I saw the statistic about the laundry because it’s so true. I’m sure if they polled people about fixing cars, men would be the highest percentage on fixing those. Gender roles are still present.