More women than men think catcalling is acceptable, says survey

WOMEN are more likely than men to think catcalling is acceptable, the British Social Attitudes survey has found.

Figures from the study show that while 61 per cent of men think it is “always” or “usually” wrong for a man to comment on a woman’s appearance in the street, just 52 per cent of women agree.

When the genders are reversed, around the same proportion of women think it is wrong for a woman to comment on a man’s appearance, while just 35 per cent of men agree.

The study, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, also found that among men aged 55 to 64, 66 per cent said telling a woman in the street that she looked gorgeous was wrong, compared with 59 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds.

“In general, people are more strongly opposed to comments about women’s appearance than comments about men’s, and this is particularly true of men and younger women,” the study concluded.

The research also found that a majority of people thought mothers of young children should not work full time, with 38 per cent saying they should work part-time and one in three believing they should stay at home. However, 72 per cent disagree with the view that “it is a man’s job to earn money and a woman’s job to look after the home and family”, a rise from 58 per cent in 2008.

The research also found that while almost one in three 18- to 34-year-olds are very or extremely worried about climate change, they are the group least likely to report that they are doing things to save energy.

The study also looked at nationalism in the wake of Brexit, with just 13 per cent of people in England describing themselves as English, not British – the lowest level since 1997. The most popular category is “Equally English and British” at 41 per cent.