Czech and Slovak youth have different attitudes toward minorities - Czechs are more LGBT-tolerant, Slovaks more tolerant of immigrants or Muslims

Young people in the Czech Republic and Slovakia differ from each other when it comes to their attitudes about ethnic, religious or sexual minorities. Czechs are more tolerant with respect to the LGBT community and also have a more positive view of drinking alcohol, consuming marijuana, and casual sex.

The Slovaks surveyed, on the other hand, have fewer reservations than Czechs do toward alcoholics, immigrants, or Muslims. Those are the findings of the survey on Values among Youth undertaken at the beginning of last summer by the Czech Council of Children and Youth (ČRDM) and the Council of  the Youth of Slovakia.

Soňa Polak, the spokesperson for the ČRDM, has provided the results of the survey to the Czech News Agency. It was conducted between May and July last year and was supported by the Erasmus+ program.

In the Czech Repulbic, 1 508 people between the ages of 15 and 29 participated in the survey and the data was collected by the Kantar CZ agency. In Slovakia the information was gathered by the Focus SK and 2Muse agencies, and 1 500 respondents were involved. 

The results have demonstrated that young Czechs and Slovaks have differing opinons about sexual minorities. In the Czech Republic, 11 % of those surveyed said they had a problem with gays or lesbians, while as many as 23 % of respondents in Slovakia said they had a problem with such persons, i.e., roughly twice as many as in the Czech Republic.

The difference in tolerance was similarly striking when it comes to tolerance of transgender people. The survey found that 16 % of Czechs would not want to have such a person for a neighbor compared to 30 % of Slovaks.

There was an approximately 10-point difference in opinions held by youth in the Czech Republic compared to youth in Slovakia in relation to alcoholics, immigrants or Muslims, with Czechs being more critical of the latter. The survey found that 78 % of youth in the Czech Republc would not want to have a chronically alcoholic person as a neighbor compared to 69 % of Slovaks. 

The survey also found that 51 % of youth in the Czech Republic said they dislike Muslims, compared to 41 % in Slovakia. As for immigrants, 48 % of Czechs and 38 % of youth in Slovakia said they have reservations about them.

The authors of the survey pointed out that in the case of Czech youth, different age groups hold varying opinions. Respondents aged 15-19 expressed more tolerance for immigrants, Muslims and Romani people than did those between the ages of 24 and 29.

The difference between age groups in the Czech Republic was as much as 15 %. “That indicates the younger generation is more open toward ethnic or religious minorities,” the authors of the survey infer.

Czechs who have spent at least three months abroad proved to be more tolerant, according to the authors. Among Slovaks, neither their age nor their experience abroad played much of a role in their opinions, according to the data.

The survey also revealed that more of the Czech youth respondents were willing to declare that they smoke, consume marijuana, and drink alcohol. In the Czech Republic, 32 % of youth drink alcohol at least once a week, while in Slovakia that number is 19 %.

On a daily basis, 22 % of Czech youth and 16 % of Slovak youth smoke. Experience with marijuana was reported by 32 % of youth in the Czech Republic and 20 % in Slovakia. 

As for opinions on abortion, Czechs were more frequently positive about the artificial interruption of pregnancy. The survey found that 38 % of youth in the Czech Republic would consider the option of abortion for themselves compared to 28 % in Slovakia.

As for same-sex intercourse, 63 % of Czechs said they would have no problem with it either personally or in the case of others, while 47 % of Slovaks shared that opinion. The Slovaks are also more critical toward the issues of euthanasia and suicide, the authors of the survey reported.