[size=18pt]What women really want: To marry a rich man[/size]

Women still want to marry men who are better educated and earn more money than them, a report finds today.

The idea that women dislike being financially dependent on men is a myth, with more choosing to “marry up” now than did so in the 1940s, according to Dr Catherine Hakim from the London School of Economics.

After decades of gender equality campaigning many women now find it hard to admit that they want to be a housewife more than they want a successful career of their own, she said.

The study comes after the Coalition announced a series of measures intended to narrow the pay gap between men and women.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities minister, said large companies could be forced to declare how much more they pay men and announced that firms would be able to use “positive action” to recruit new staff from under-represented groups for the first time.

However, Dr Hakim criticised David Cameron for backing the idea of quotas to ensure that more women gain seats on the boards of leading companies. Men dominate top positions because many women simply do not want long careers in business, she said.

Despite 40 years of reforms to promote gender equality at work, a woman’s financial dependence on a man “has lost none of its attractions”, she said.

In a 52-page report published by the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, Dr Hakim continued: “Women’s aspiration to marry up, if they can, to a man who is better-educated and higher-earning, persists in most European countries.

“Women thereby continue to use marriage as an alternative or supplement to their employment careers.”

Dr Hakim’s research drew on an extensive review of existing studies from around the world, census data, and national surveys conducted in Britain and Spain.

An analysis of figures for Britain shows that in 1949, 20 per cent of women married husbands with significantly higher levels of education than their own.

By the late 1990s, the proportion of women who were “marrying up” had almost doubled to 38 per cent. Similar patterns are seen across much of Europe, the US and Australia.

The widely promoted goal of “symmetrical family roles”, with men and women sharing child-care, housework and employment, is popular among a highly educated, professional elite. But it is “not the ideal sought by most couples”, the report said.

“It is thus not surprising that wives generally earn less than their husbands, and that most couples rationally decide that it makes sense for her to take on the larger share of childcare, and use most or all the parental leave allowance.”

Dr Hakim said many women did not want to “admit” that they were looking for a higher earning partner. They even keep the fact secret from the men they are dating, she said.

“It has become impossible to say ‘I wouldn’t mind being a housewife,’” she said. “It is so politically incorrect that a lot of women don’t want to admit it.”

The report said that the “war” for equal opportunities between men and women was now over in the UK.

The gap in pay between the two sexes has fallen from about 30% in the 1970s to as low as 10% today. Women do now have an equal opportunity to find work, but choose different priorities for their lives.

The report said it was wrong for politicians to expect that equal opportunities would result in equal numbers of women as men in particular jobs.

iice:

Having it all depends on what you mean by all, person to person.
Do i have it all? Based on my needs and wants, not yet. Just a thing or two not yet achieved.
Did my mother have it all. Yes. She's a formidable woman. She was the richer one as my grandmother is but they both married men of strength, character and understanding, who in the end made themselves what they are today.

Sagamite:

They both did not have to sacrifess anything?

Their careers? Their advanced education? They did not have to do majority of the housework? Their beauty did not fade drastically in their 30s/40s from what it used to be because of responsibilities and [delayed age of] child birth?

Nope. Well my grandmother didn't work as pa in her time, women stayed at home.
My mother started working right from high school till she graduated uni. Even when she married my dad, he told her to stay home, she refused. Said she's not used to that and would get bored. So he let her. She retired but my mama still doesn't rest. She na business woman till now As for housework, she did majority of it. I used to think she was invincible because she rarely gets sick even as she seemed to do it all. And my mom at her age passes for early 30s. She takes care of herself, has always been a healthy eater. Only crow's feet around her eyes. . .probably has to do with genetics but she has like 8 younger siblings and she looks younger than all of them. As for childbearing, it wasn't delayed.

iice:

Nope.  Well my grandmother didn't work as pa in her time, women stayed at home. 
My mother started working right from high school till she graduated uni.  Even when she married my dad, he told her to stay home, she refused.  Said she's not used to that and would get bored.  So he let her.  She retired but my mama still doesn't rest.  She na business woman till now As for housework, she did majority of it.  I used to think she was invincible because she rarely gets sick even as she seemed to do it all.  And my mom at her age passes for early 30s.  She takes care of herself, has always been a healthy eater.  Only crow's feet around her eyes. . .probably has to do with genetics but she has like 8 younger siblings and she looks younger than all of them.  As for childbearing, it wasn't delayed.

Sagamite:

She is a Superwoman then.

If she has a good relationship with her man, got her qualifications soughted, worked when she wanted to, had kids on time and did not face health risks, still looked reasonably hot, and she raised good kids minus one (Note: I am talking of only your siblings as being good because I can vouch for them, but not you, though I will not judge her based on you, the reasons for you na different case. )

Well done by her. She is a minority it appears.

Your grandmother had to sacrifice.

Lol yes oo Superwoman.
Come ooo. I'm a good kid The bestest sef

iice:

Come ooo. I'm a good kid The bestest sef

[size=18pt]Don't wait too long for a baby: Women are SIX times more likely to suffer from fertility problems when 35 than at 25
[/size]

Doctors have issued a stark warning to couples not to leave it too late to try for a baby.

With more and more women pursuing careers, they and their partners are leaving parenthood to at least their late thirties.

But women aged 35 are six times more likely to have problems conceiving compared to those ten years younger, warns a major study from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The report says older parents are making it harder for themselves to have children – and increasing the likelihood of serious medical complications for both mother and baby.

By the age of 40, a woman is more likely to have a miscarriage than give birth.

Men’s fertility also declines rapidly from the age of 25 and the doctors estimate that the average 40-year-old takes two years to get his partner pregnant – even if she is in her twenties.

The report is a clear and authoritative wake-up call on the dangers of late parenthood. However, increasing numbers of couples are doing just that without properly understanding the consequences – and the risks.

Separate figures show that the number of mothers giving birth after their 40th birthday has trebled in the last 20 years.

Almost 27,000 babies were born to mothers over 40 last year compared to with 9,336 in 1989.

The doctors insist women should be given clear reminders that ‘the most secure age for childbearing remains 20 to 35’.

Up to 30 per cent of 35-year-olds take longer than a year to get pregnant, compared to only 5 per cent of 25-year-olds, according to the figures in the report by the Royal College.

The research, which looked at several major studies on fertility, also shows that the average childbearing age has risen from 23 in 1968 to 29.3 today.

Expectant mothers in their late thirties and forties are far more likely to suffer complications such as pre-eclampsia, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or stillbirth and they are also more likely to need a Caesarean.

Babies born to them are more likely to be premature, smaller or have Down’s Syndrome and other genetic disorders.

Doctors warn that government campaigns to cut teenage pregnancy and boost contraception uptake may have resulted in young people thinking they can delay parenthood indefinitely.

They also say that IVF has given women a ‘false sense of security’, despite major breakthroughs in recent years.

Fertility treatment has a 3 per cent success rate for women over the age of 44.

More than half of those having such treatment in their forties use donor eggs, because their own supply has diminished, or the quality of those remaining is not good enough.

The study, published in the medical journal Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, says that risks of prolonging parenthood should be taught at school alongside lessons on safe sex.

Researchers also say charts showing the decline of fertility with age should be put up in surgeries and family planning clinics.

David Utting, specialty registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology at Kingston Hospital NHS Trust and co-author of the review, said: ‘Clear facts on fertility need to be made available to women of all ages to remind them that the most secure age for childbearing remains 20-35.

‘However women and doctors should remain vigilant to prevent unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.’

Fertility experts say that there is not enough provision in the workplace to allow women to simultaneously have children while pursuing a career.

Gedis Grudzinskas, a consultant in infertility and gynaecology, said: ‘Many women I see say they find it very difficult to try to do everything.

‘Society has changed and there is now much more opportunity to follow exciting careers – especially with such inadequate provision of childcare.

‘Women achieve career satisfaction and decide they want to start a family but by this time it is too late and they can’t turn the clock back.’

He added: ‘We should be making it easier for women to start a family while they are at work.’

Jason Waugh, consultant in obstetrics and editor in chief of the Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, said: ‘This review highlights the problems associated with later maternal age.

‘There are a number of reasons why women are leaving it later to start a family, for example, career concerns, financial reasons and finding a suitable partner.

‘However, women should be given more information on the unpredictability of pregnancy and the problems that can occur in older mothers.’

armyofone:

singing and humming

''you can eat your cake and have itttt, you can eat your cake and have it, oh yeah baby, you surely can eat your cake and still gat it

singing and whistling you can yes yes you can babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

ifyalways:

. . . Folks are seriously avoiding this thread cos of 2 words:r3tard and m0r0n

Sagamite:

^^^lol.

I think more like pensive reflectionism of possible or actual reality of life and limitations is keeping most females quiet.

dayokanu:

Now the truth is out.

Why do women prefer to marry people richer? Do they mean there cant be love to poorer people.

The concept of gold digging still prevails among females

ifyalways:

Na u sabi.
Add[i] Youtube [/i]videos to r3tard and m0r0n and tell me who wud want to take the risk. lol

dayokanu:

Why do women prefer to marry people richer? Do they mean there cant be love to poorer people.

The concept of gold digging still prevails among females

Jenifa_:

homophobic+misogynistic = sagamite

armyofone:

Saga, lol to the cartoon you sent
we are the cow and you guys are the lil chicken 
see the cow eating it with relish, i'm going to roast, grill, cook, pepperize mine 

who told you we cant have it all, sh.it don hit fan so we know a great deal that 1 not 2 can play that game.
yes we can

Ujujoan:

That should be the dumbest question ever 

Who wants to suffer eh? Did anybody come to this world to suffer     

But seriously, I find it laughable that a woman who doesn't want to marry a poor man is written off as a gold-digger! I bet the one who would rather be with a pauper is considered the ideal woman! 

Jenifa_:

some women are gold diggers because that's what men prefer!!
as far as i'm concerned there are lots of single career women out there in their late 20s (it takes years and hard work to get educated and develop a career). most men just happen not to be interested in them and would rather prefer a young girl who obviously need to rely on a man to feed herself. and these young girls are not silly either. of course they prefer a rich man because otherwise, how are they going to survive.