Czech women more likely than men to accept gender inequality

Czechia has once again been flagged as one of the worst performers in the European Union for gender equality, according to the newly released Gender Equality Index 2025 from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).

With an overall score of 53.2 out of 100, the country ranks 25th among the 27 EU Member States, significantly below the EU average of 63.4 and improving at a slower pace than the rest of the bloc.

The analysis highlights ongoing challenges in the Work and Power categories. Czechia ranks 26th in Work, with women’s full-time employment rate (48 percent) significantly lower than men’s (67 percent). At the same time, the Power domain shows the greatest inequality, scoring just 20.3, less than half the EU average, due to poor female representation in decision-making roles.

Perhaps one of the most striking findings is data showing that women themselves often maintain and perpetuate traditional views. The analysis reveals widespread internalization of stereotypes that actively limit women’s workforce participation and even condone harmful attitudes.

EIGE findings show that a majority of Czech women (54 percent) agree that if childcare services are unavailable, mothers should stay home to care for their children, while fathers should prioritize their jobs.

This exceeds even the average among EU men (42 percent), demonstrating that Czech women largely accept the traditional female role as primary caregiver and reinforcing the “double burden” that prevents many from achieving full-time employment and career growth. Driving the point home is the fact that 68 percent of Czech women also agree that a man's most important role is to earn money.

Over half of Czech women (53 percent) agree that men earn more because their jobs are inherently more demanding. The acceptance of harmful attitudes is among one of the more shocking statistics to surface in the data.

Some 41 percent of Czech women found it acceptable for a man to control his wife’s finances, matching the EU average for men.

A massive 68 percent of Czech women agree that if women share intimate pictures with someone, they are at least partially responsible if the image is shared online without consent. This rate is substantially higher than the EU average for both women (42 percent) and men (45 percent), and nearly identical to Czech men (69 percent).

Czech sociologist Hana Stelzerová in the Equal Times, ties these internalized stereotypes directly to the economic consequences for women, saying:

“Czech women often choose to be at home with the children for a long time and don't anticipate the negative effect of it. If there’s a problem in the family, women become economically dependent on the men.”

External policy efforts to address structural inequalities may struggle to gain traction as long as these deeply ingrained beliefs are upheld by the women they are designed to help.

The analysis highlights major challenges in Work and Power categories. In the Work domain, Czechia ranks 26th, with women's full-time employment rate (48 percent) significantly lower than men's (67 percent). The Power domain shows the greatest inequality, with the lowest overall score of 20.3 (less than half the EU average) due to poor female representation in decision-making roles across politics, economics, and society.

Two previously strong domains, Knowledge (education) and Health, have both declined since 2020, indicating backward steps in critical areas.

However, there are positive signs. The Money domain is the only area where Czechia's score (75.6) exceeds the EU average (73.9). Most notably, Power saw its score climb by 4.8 points since 2020, suggesting that efforts to improve female representation in economic and social spheres are starting to yield results, even as overall inequalities remain severe.

Since 2015, Czechia's Index score has increased by 5.3 points; however, analysts warn that this slow progress is widening the gap with EU standards, thereby solidifying the country's position at the bottom of the European gender equality table.

The Czech Women’s Lobby today announced that it had sent proposals to Prime Minister-designate Andrej Babiš, focusing on the prevention of domestic violence, access to healthcare, equal care division between partners, and women's political representation.

"Gender equality cannot be reduced to increasing the birth rate and getting mothers back to work quickly," said director Diana Soták Gregorová. "Women cannot be seen only through the lens of motherhood; they are a full-fledged half of society."