Do you describe yourself a feminist? Survey finds nearly half of 18 to 34 year olds would

Nearly half (43%) of those aged 18 to 34 say they would describe themselves as a feminist, compared with 23% of those aged 45 to 54 and 21% of those aged 55 to 64.

Its popularity has been bolstered by celebrities as actors Emma Watson and Lena Dunham and writer Caitlin Moran speaking strongly in support of feminism.

The poll – commissioned by the charity Plan International UK to mark International Women's Day – found that younger men are far more likely to embrace the term, with men aged 25 to 34 being just as likely as women of the same age to describe themselves as feminist (42% and 43%).

However, this enthusiasm tails off slightly among younger men, with 36% of males aged 18 to 24 describing themselves as feminist.

File photo of feminist author Germaine Greer. Photo: Ian West/PA Wire

Although some people were lukewarm about the term, the survey of 2,003 people found Britons overwhelmingly believe in equality between the sexes.

Asked whether they believed that men and women should be treated equally and enjoy the same rights, without reference to the term feminism, some 91% said they did, while just 5% said they did not.

Tanya Barron, Plan International UK chief executive, said: 'This International Women's Day, the British public has shown itself to be pretty forward-thinking on gender equality, though we would encourage the roughly one in 10 who don't believe in equality to think again.

'Here in the UK, we do know that feminism can be a challenging word for some people. It's really interesting to see the growing acceptance of the term among younger groups.

'Personally, I feel inspired that we will be seeing more and more avowed feminists entering into leadership roles in the future.

But she warned there is still a 'long way to go' before women and girls around the world have equality.