INEQUALITIES OF OPPORTUNITIES BY SPHERES: DYNAMICS

The question included areas in which women have always had limitations, which can be tentatively divided into:

Objective reasons can be eliminated to a greater extent today, but subjective ones continue to have a significant impact: political activity in Ukraine is still male-dominated, where women do not have more opportunities and can only partially claim equality. Career advancement also gives a third of men more opportunities, while women can partly count on equality rather than advantages for their gender (only 7% believe that women have carte blanche in their careers). Remuneration is a more objective phenomenon: its size is more often determined not by gender, but by the officially sanctioned pay scales, especially in the public sector, so there is equal opportunity here - 61%.

Gender and gender differences do not exist by themselves as individual attributes or social phenomena. They are always combined with other important characteristics, such as age and class (social status, employment, income level, etc.) Our research allows us to follow the differences between men and women of different ages and social status (due to employment).

Men of all ages see less inequality than women, and this is natural, because inequality does not affect them. And what women see as a lack of opportunities, men can explain with other reasons. Women are more critical: young people see significant limitations for women in political activity and career growth (because this is the age for building a career, it is a sensitive issue for them) Women aged 51 + see significant inequalities in pay and political activity. The pension of women of this group is usually lower than that of men, and therefore we have a significant gap: 20% fewer women than men of this age see equal opportunities.

Both middle -aged women and men recognize the least inequality and the gap in assessments is also smaller: women rate equality in pay better (68%) than men (61%). This is a period of maturity, social and professional achievements, usually children are already more independent and need less attention, while women have more time and opportunities, so the balance is better in this age group. The political activity of women in all age groups is assessed as an area of inequality, in contrast to men, who believe that women have enough equal opportunities there.

Working women are more critical towards their career, income, and political opportunities than non-working women because they have real-world experience rather than assumptions about these issues. Men who work, on the contrary, estimate women's capabilities better than men who do not work – in this case again the former rely on their experience. Therefore, experience and its evaluation are subjective. Perceptions of pensioners are related not only to a change in status, but also to age: women of retirement age traditionally see more inequalities in these areas, because they experience them more and have more traditional views on the gender distribution of roles.

For more than 2 years, the situation with gender equality has improved, especially in pay. Less - in career growth and political activity. However, women also did not receive greater opportunities than men in these areas, and even in politics and career growth, they lost the preferences they had in 2021. March 2021 is the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, June 2023 is the second year of full-scale war. Both are destabilizing factors. However, war is also a time of opportunities: significant changes in the economic and social landscape, internal and external migration, the emergence of new and restructuring of traditional spheres of professional activity, changes in the requirements for competences, human soft skills in politics and the workplace. War, as a crisis event of the highest level, accelerates changes in the gender division of labor, vertical and horizontal segregation, which are already gradually disappearing over time.

Over these 2 years, women see fewer changes for the better in terms of opportunities than men, and generally evaluate gender equality more critically. For them, changes for the better took place relative to 2021, but for men, these changes are much more noticeable: 68% consider equal pay conditions, 65% - equal career opportunities. It is likely that the changes that have taken place in recent years for men are significant, because women are increasingly stepping into areas which were the men's world, while the level of women's requests still exceeds the real state of affairs for them in these areas.

NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF WOMEN IN UKRAINE

The assessment of women's opportunities in general looks optimistic. These indicators can be conditionally divided into 2 parts:

The best situation is with the level of income and career. Greater access to military professions is not far behind - women have made their way into the Armed Forces since 2014, and February 2022 gave even more opportunities and opened the door to military ranks for women even wider. Political activity still remains less accessible, but during war it is difficult to evaluate it, because the martial law objectively limits the rights and freedoms of citizens, including political rights not only for women, but for all citizens and political figures. Protection, support and security are less provided for women, the exception is support for motherhood, but this is not about gender equality, but about the traditional value of motherhood - this indicator is equally supported by people with different views on gender equality. The safety of public places for women is generally at a good level, but protection against. domestic violence and, especially, against sexual harassment still needs attention from both the public and the authorities: more than a third of respondents rate women's safety as low. Relevant statistics from humanitarian and government organizations also confirm the still high level of domestic violence against women for a European country. Also, the war in Ukraine has increased the perception of the importance of safety and care especially for women, since they are a risk group for war crimes such as rape.

Older women see the least opportunities for women in general, this age group has not had enough opportunities to take advantage of the changes in the gender balance that we are witnessing in the 21st century. This also applies to protection and safety – these women lived through times when violence and harassment against women was tolerated, not condemned. The situation with opportunities for women in career and income looks best for men under 35 years old, next to them are women of the same age, they also best evaluate access to military professions - because it is just for young women who choose a military specialty today. Men of this age group really have more egalitarian views, are free of some stereotypes, are more ready to share the male world and support women - they believe that they need more protection and support. This is a generation of greater humanism, tolerance, individualism and hedonism. They are more open and flexible in their perception of the world. Linear trends related to gender and age are not observed - this also confirms that in times of change, all social transformations can be contradictory and uneven.

Men from rural areas are less likely than urban men to see opportunities for women in most fields. For residents of villages, access to opportunities in general is more limited than for city dwellers, and women from villages, as a group that has less access to quality education, professions, may experience additional restrictions from the point of view of men. At the same time, women from rural areas better assess the opportunities, in contrast to females from urban areas, where the latter may have a higher level of demands / expectations and the existing level of opportunities for women does not satisfy them. In addition, the way of life, professional employment in the village may have a slightly different distribution of roles, which affects the evaluations.

**ATTITUDE TO THE LAUNCH OF SEPARATE CARRIAGES FOR WOMEN **

Despite the heated discussions about separate carriages for women, the majority of citizens support such an initiative. Among women, of course, there were more supporters, but not significantly. The fear that women would support this innovation, and men would be against it, did not come true. For 17% of both men and women, this is a question that should not be paid attention to in general - they do not care whether there will be such cars or not. Therefore, only 18% of men and 11% of women oppose separate carriages for women. Also, the initiative of Ukrzaliznytsia is appropriate and has been met with public approval.

It also indirectly determines the willingness to accept changes and not resist them - this is a sign of flexible, adaptive societies. Because it is not only about train cars, but in general about changes and new practices and society's attitude to the new and unusual. Ukrainian society is ready to support the new.

The presence of separate carriages for women is not a discriminatory practice - 77% believe that such carriages do not discriminate against anyone. This is not discrimination against either men or women, separate carriages are not perceived as a violation of rights or their limitation. This is not perceived as mistrust of men or unreasonable preferences for women. Only 11% of men perceived it as discrimination against them, but at the same time 6% of them noted that it discriminates against women as well. It is clear that there are fewer women who hold such an opinion.

These figures seem valid, as conditions of women's safety, protection from domestic violence and sexual harassment are rated lower than everything related to income and career opportunities for females. There is an understanding in society that safety issues still need to be worked on and carriages are one of the practical measures to increase the safety of public space for women.

SUMMARY

Today, all over the world, women are becoming more and more "visible" in all areas that were traditionally reserved for men. The story that a man is a man, and the rest is a derivative, is gradually changing the plot, where women have the right to vote, preferences, achievements and opportunities. Both the perception and the real state of affairs with opportunities for women in career development, wages and political activity have been transformed during the last decades. In Ukraine, gender balance and equality, the "visibility" of women in traditionally male spheres is perceived more consciously and the situation is gradually improving - women's opportunities are expanding. However, legislative changes, additional attention to transparency in remuneration, implementation of objective, unbiased practices for evaluating candidates for positions, adaptation of the world of work, politics, and military affairs to a person who can be anyone, not only a man, would contribute improvement of the situation.

In political activity, women in Ukraine are still not sufficiently represented: in the parliament, local self-government bodies, in government positions - and this is confirmed by the results of the study: politics is the sphere of the least opportunities for women in Ukraine. Military specialties are rated as more accessible to women today, but this trend changes during wartime, when such specialties and those who are ready to defend the country are given the green light.

Support for motherhood in Ukraine is perceived as sufficient, because motherhood as a traditional value is important for people with different views on gender equality, balance and opportunities. Protection from sexual and domestic violence is still a growth area for Ukraine, and this became especially acute during the war and showed how vulnerable women really are.

Issues of safety for women in public spaces, protection from domestic and sexual violence, and maternity care are important aspects of gender equality and women's well-being. In recent years, many countries have adopted legislation and implemented policies aimed at preventing violence against women and ensuring their safety in public spaces, as research has shown that public spaces are not safe. This includes installing surveillance cameras, safety education, educating women about their rights and opportunities, and creating safe spaces for them. Ukraine also joined this process by launching separate women's carriages of Ukrzaliznytsia, which was approved and supported by the public.

The issues of career and income are solved better today, they are more gender-balanced from the public's point of view, although women still have a more critical attitude to their opportunities. Security, protection and care of women need more attention from the state organizations, non-governmental organizations and foundations, especially during war and overcoming the consequences of psychological traumatization of society and vulnerable categories of the population, which primarily include pregnant women, young mothers and elderly women who need support the most.

Audience: the population of Ukraine aged 18 and older in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas, as well as territories where there is no Ukrainian mobile connection at the time of the survey. The results are weighted using current data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine ü The sample is representative in terms of age, gender and type of settlement. Sample population: 1000 respondents. Interview method: CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing). Based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. Error of the representativeness of the study with a confidence interval of 0.95: no more than 3.1%. Dates: June 1-2, 2023.