Women want rich husbands

A new report suggests that gender equality may be a myth after all – it found that women today still want to 'marry up' – they want husbands who earn more than they do.

Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics suggests men dominate the top positions because women simply do not want careers in business.

"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," she added.

"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 child care, and to use most or all the parental leave allowance," Hakim said.

Hakim also accused feminists of manufacturing 'political ammunition for a war that has ended'.

"Women today have more choices than men, including real choices between a focus on family work and/or paid employment. Despite this, many politicians and feminists appear disappointed with the slow pace of change in women's attainment of top jobs," Hakim said.