GEORGE TOWN, March 6 — Malaysians say they want equality in the household, but old traditions still linger.

A new 29‑country survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform between December 24, 2025 and January 9, 2026 shows that while most Malaysians support sharing childcare and housework equally, many continue to believe a husband should have the final word in important family decisions.

The survey involved 23,268 adults from 29 countries, including 500 individuals in Malaysia.

Household roles and responsibilities

About 67 per cent of Malaysians personally believe that childcare responsibilities should be equally shared. However, 63 per cent believe that women are naturally better at childcare than men, while 26 per cent remained neutral, and 10 per cent disagreed.

Similarly, 67 per cent of Malaysian respondents said housework such as cooking and cleaning should be shared equally, while 17 per cent believed women should be responsible and 16 per cent believed men should be responsible.

Globally, support for equal sharing is stronger, at 73 per cent for childcare and 77 per cent for housework.

Money and household authority

When it comes to earning money, more than half (51 per cent) believed that men should be mainly responsible, while 40 per cent believed this should be shared equally and only eight per cent believed women should be responsible.

On household decision‑making, 57 per cent of Malaysians said both men and women should share responsibility, while 37 per cent believed men should take the lead and nine per cent believed women should take the lead.

Yet, a majority (58 per cent) agreed that a husband should have the final word on important decisions made in his home and 13 per cent disagreeing. By contrast, the global average shows 77 per cent support equal decision‑making.

Globally, 66 per cent agreed that earning money should be equally shared, with 24 per cent believing men should be responsible and only six per cent believing women should be responsible.

Masculinity, caregiving and marriage

According to the global average, 64 per cent disagreed that men who take part in caregiving for children are less masculine than men who don’t.

In Malaysia, 49 per cent disagreed with this statement.

On whether it causes problems in a marriage if a man stays at home to raise children while the woman works, 38 per cent of Malaysians agreed.

When it comes to whether a wife should always obey her husband, 60 per cent of Malaysian respondents agreed and 17 per cent disagreed.

On the other hand, a majority of Malaysians (74 per cent) believed that men who take on caring responsibilities are more attractive to women.

Globally, nearly three in five Gen Z women agreed that men who take on caring responsibilities are more attractive, compared to one in two Gen Z men.

Feminism and equality

A majority of Malaysians (63 per cent) believed that when it comes to giving women equal rights, things have gone far enough in the country. In comparison, 52 per cent across the 29‑country average believed this, with men generally more likely than women to agree.

In terms of identifying as a feminist, 48 per cent of Malaysians did so, compared to 39 per cent globally.

Women of all generations, from baby boomers (40 per cent) to Gen Z (54 per cent), were more likely to define themselves as feminists, while about 36 per cent of Gen Z men identified as feminists.

On the global average, three in five people agreed that things would work better if more women held positions of responsibility in government and companies. More than half of men (52 per cent) and women (66 per cent) believed this.

In Malaysia, 56 per cent agreed that things would work better if more women held such positions.

At the same time, 68 per cent of Malaysians said men are being expected to do too much to support equality, compared to the global average of 46 per cent.

However, many Malaysians (55 per cent) also believed the country has gone so far in promoting women’s equality that men are now being discriminated against. Globally, opinion was more divided, with 44 per cent agreeing and 48 per cent disagreeing.

Future outlook and traditional roles

The outlook for young women in Malaysia seemed bright to respondents, as 60 per cent believed that young women today will have a better life than women from their parents’ generation.

However, when it comes to young men, only 49 per cent of Malaysians think they will have a better life than men from their parents’ generation and 17 per cent believed it will be worse.

Malaysians are generally divided when it comes to traditional roles, with 29 per cent believing women benefit the most when men keep to traditional masculine roles, 34 per cent believing this has no impact on women, and 27 per cent believing women will benefit when men don’t keep to traditional masculine roles.

Similarly, Malaysians are divided on whether men benefit the most when women keep to traditional feminine roles, with 28 per cent agreeing, 39 per cent believing there is no impact on men, and 22 per cent believing men benefit when women don’t keep to traditional feminine roles.

A large portion of Malaysians (47 per cent) think both men and women have the same amount of choice in choosing the type of jobs to pursue, followed by 35 per cent believing men have more choice compared to women (9 per cent).

Three out of 10 people in 29 countries agreed that young women should try to be more attractive, even if not naturally beautiful. Malaysians (57 per cent), along with Indonesia (72 per cent) and Thailand (59 per cent), topped the list in agreement with this.

 Malay Mail – Malaysia